(This is just a short story of a nameless soldier on a nameless world who is swallowed up into a deadly conflict and has to fight for his life against a mysterious enemy.)
The evening air was crisp, a cold front having passed through, and it brought with it an icy chill that saw through the thermal insulation in his suit. Its bite caused his joints to freeze up and he had to constantly knock away the fly that was quickly forming on the drive servos of his powered armor battle suit. His breath was hot on the faceplate of his helmet and caused it to fog up with each exercise. The city street he was patrolling was devoid of any activity, as all sane people were sealed up tight in their homes next to a roaring fire. He cursed his luck for getting the night patrol during this freak cold snap and stepped into an alleyway to get out of the wind. He checked his gear over to make sure that no ice was building up on any of the sensitivemechanics. He then checked the pulse rifle slung over his shoulder and made sure the energy feeds from the gun’s power pack weren’t clogged with snow. Satisfied that his equipment was in working order he exited the alley and continued his patrol. He noticed that the sun was setting fast behind the mountains and checked his suit’s wrist chronometer to see what time it was. It was only 6:30pm and the sun shouldn’t be setting so soon. He looked about the street and noticed that the wind had stopped and that the lights from several houses had gone dark. He slide the pulse rifle’s strap from his shoulder and gripped the gun in his hands as he walked over to the darkened windows. He edged up close to one of the windows out front and peaked in. The interior was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything inside so he moved to the front door and knocked on it. The sound of breaking glass echoed within the house through the door and he kicked it in. He slowly stepped inside with his rifle set against his shoulder, finger poised on the trigger, as he walked down the narrow hallway towards the back of the house. The thumbing of his armored feet and the whine of his suit’s joint servos echoed off the walls as he moved about. He came to a corner and huddled up against the wall before leaning out to look down the connecting hallway. Moonlight now filtered in through the windows and dimly lit the living area at the end of the corridor. He brought his rifle around and crept down the second hallway to the living area. He flicked on the rifle’s flashlight and swept it around the room. He froze when the light’s beam shone across a body lying on the floor and he rushed over to check to see if they were all right. He knelt down beside the body and turned it over. It was a woman and her skin was pale and cold to the touch. He felt for her pulse and relaxed some when he feel a faint throbbing beneath his fingertips. She was alive but only just and he picked her up and moved her to a nearby couch. He set her down on its soft cushions and covered her with a blanket. As he started to get up he noticed a shadow move across the window and spun around, raising his rifle to his shoulder. He backed up towards the hallway and flicked a toggle on his wrist that polarized his faceplate. He continued to slowly retreat back down the hallway till he reached the junction further down. He then turned and ran out of the house, sparing a look behind him as he entered out into the street. A large pair of glaiming eyes stared back at him from the darkened house and he squeezed the trigger on his rifle. He fired off a triple burst; three dazzling bolts of amber energy blazing from the barrel and into the darkened doorway. The sickening sound of a body exploding followed and he approached the house again. He played his rifle’s light over the half-melted remain of a nightmish creativity. Its head was a grotesque mustation filled with long needle-like teeth. What was left of the torso was covered in black ichor that flowed from the three gaping holes in its chest. The arms were sinewy and ended in a clawed, three fingered hand. Its legs were long and heavily muscled, leading him to believe that it could probably run at great speed and jump to incredible heights if it so desired. He put the barrel of his rifle to its head and pulled the trigger, reducing it to a gooey splatter along the floor to make sure it was truly dead. He then lifted up his hand and switched on his helmet’s radio,
“Patrol 5 reporting contact with an unknown life form in city block 51D. Requesting additional Enforcers at my location, confirmation code Gamma-Niner-Alpha-Zero.”
The radio crackled as the reply came through, “Acknowledged Patrol Five… Hold down the fort till reformations arrive. Enforcer squads Delta and Epsilon are enroute; their ETA is fifteen minutes.”
“Affirmative HQ… Patrol 5 out,” he then switched off the transmitter and shoulded his rifle once again. He walked down the street away from the house, keeping to the middle of the road. He constantly looked from left to right as he checked each and every alley way along the city block and then turned to head back to the house where he had encountered the creativity. As he was walking back something caught his eye up on the roof of the house on his right and he craned his head to look up at it. Another pair of glaming eyes was watching him from a balcony on the second floor and he raised his rifle to shoot but the eyes disappeared just before he could line them up in his sights. He kept the rifle raised and scanned the rooftops of the neighboring houses. He picked up on some movement on the third house and fired, an inhuman roar filling the air as the body of another of the creativity fall to theStreet. He was now keenly aware of movement all around him and he took off running down the street. He heard the soft scraping of clawed feet on stone behind him and he spun around, just in time to see several black shapes drop to the street and look in his direction. He opened up on them with his pulse rifle, catching one of the beasts in the throat while the rest scattered under the barrier. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and he tried in vain to get his breathing under control but it was no use. More of the creations emerged from the shadows and he dashed for a nearby house. He flung the door open and slammed it shut behind him and backed up into the hallway. He heard the howling of the beasts as they converged on the house and scratched at the door. He checked the charge on his rifle, it was at 55%, so that means a couple dozens shots more before the power pack would give out and he would be as good as dead. He retired further down the hallway till he came to aflight of stairs and started to climb them. He was halfway up when he heard the door smoke in and the clicking sounds of clawed feet on the tiled floor enter the house. He fumbled on his belt for one of the frag grenades and held it in his shaking hand. A pair of glaming eyes appeared at the base of the stairs and he flicked off the arming pin and throw the grenade down the stairwell at the beast. It moved out of the way and the grenade closed Against the floor and rolled out into the hallway. The creativity turned to look at the object he had thrown at it, but the sound of heavy feet running up the stairs drew its attention back towards him just as the grenade detonated. The exploration shook the entire house and vaporized a large portion of the beasts that had gathered to investigate the strange beeping cylinder lying on the floor. Those that remained now moved about cautiously and proceeded slowly up the ruined stairs. At the top of the stairs he waited with his rifle set against his shoulder; ready to blast anything that appeared from downstairs. His focus was broken as the skylight above him shattered and a dark shape dropped down onto him. He felt its claws rake across the arm plating on his chest and he swung out with the butt end of his rifle at the beast’s gasping mouth as it lowered to snap at him. He felt the thing’s jaw shatter under the impact and it recoiled back in pain. He climbed to his feet and leveled the rifle at it and fired. The blast took its head off and its smoking corpse dropped at his feet. He retired back further from the stairwell and away from the skylight just as another of the beasts dropped down. A group from downstairs joined it and they rushed in at him with reaching clawed hands. He emptied the rifle into the crowd of nightmares; mowing them down as they drew close to him. More of the beasts poured in from downstairs and from the broken skylight overhead and soon he was overwhelmed. He began clubbingThey with his rifle, using his suit’s augmented strength to bash in skulls or tear free from the grasp of their clawed hands. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would be overrun and torn apart but the sound of a vehicle outside turned his attention to a neary window that looked out onto the street.
An armored personnel carrier had pulled up outside the house and was disgorging troops that took up defending positions on either side of the APC and began firing into the swarm of creativity flowing into the street. A second APC came to a stop at the other end of the block and sealed off the area. Its troops disembarked and joined in the fight, catching the beasts in the deadly crossfire. The presence of the additional troops outside drew the attention of The creations already in the house and the bloodied patrolman took advantage of their momentary distraction. He rushed for the window and plowed through the glass and out onto the balCony beyond. He took his remaining fragment grenade from his belt and popped the pin, tossing it into the house as he leaves from the balcony and landed hard on the street below; dropping into a roll to lessen the impact. He came up and ducked behind a wall just as flames erupted from the balcony window and consumed the nightmares within. From behind the wall he watched as the beasts were slaughtered under the constant fire from the Enforcers. The battle drew to a close several minutes later as the creativity were driven from the field of engagement. The squad leader from Epsilon walked over and extended his hand out to him. He took the offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. His suit was a wreck with deep grooves in the arm plating and his faceplate was cracked but he was alive. He pulled off his helmet and tossed it to the street,
“Thanks for the save back there, I’ll buy everyone of you a round when we get back to base.”
The squad leader just smiled and placed his hand on his shoulder, “Just glad you made it out in one piece son…”
The tired soldier smiled back and drew him into a tight hug, “Thanks dad!”
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