Coming of the End (by Nightmare Cadraver)
A hot wind
blew over the hot desert wastelands of a long stretch of sand,
seemingly never-ending in range and length. Sands twirled in a fashion
that only the winds knew, harshly they moved about- hostile to all
forms of life, save the especially hardy ones. Such as the quick desert
rat or the wasteland-dwelling wyverns that flew across vast reaches of
sand and sun in this unfriendly place.
With a stomp meeting each
ground, two giant feet touched the scorching sand with due heaviness
and strength. Supported by two also-giant legs, the machine walked atop
the sand, impervious to the scorching heat from the rays of the sun-
landing down unto all upon that side of the planet. A great head placed
above the giant head had clearly shown that the walking machine was a
mechanized unit, or 'mech' for short, as preferred by many of the mech
pilots. Extending to a further dual arms that stuck out from the head,
unknown weapons lay closed from sight, not to be shown in sight unless
in dire need, such as the need for battle. And that was a need that had
been shown already several times, and maybe to be used again. Muchly to
the luck of the mech's pilots.
A cooler wind circulated within
the insides of the mech's main cockpit, a rather small area which
enabled the pilot of such a mech to attend to the complex controls of
the machine from the insides. Able to obtain information whether he was
lacking fuel, or had to activate heat sinks, or even to call in for
backup from his comms set, the pilot was in full power of his mech (not
exactly , as he usually had a wingman to accompany him) and with the
right skills and timing, could prove to much of a worthy adversary in
battle. At least for most battles, as other similar mechs trekked
across the sands in a routine patrol mission.
"Yes, most battles, at least involving that of your own species,"
the pilot thought. Heavy rock music blared from two sides of the
headset that he was wearing, and in a mood of so-called calmness, and a
shaking head that danced to the rhythm of the song (though at some
parts did seem rather indecipherable). With one hand he took the
controls of the front cockpit, pulling levers and at the same time
twisting a semi-circle in front of him, while the other hand tapped on
his arm rest to the song's rhythm, imitating the drums in the
background sounds.
A relaxed composure sat upon his image, when
at times he did close his eyes and imagined in his mind that he was
with the band that he was listening to, singing along with them,
humming the tunes when he had forgotten some of the lyrics, away from
this harsh, scorching place. Or so he wished, but there was no such
luck for him, while his mech company crossed above the heated sand,
making trails of giant feet in the landscape as they crossed. Crossed
they did, until almost all of s sudden a cold, digital, emotionless
voice echoed slightly in the confinement of the cockpit.
"Point
Charlie reached. Winds at approximate forty kilometres per hour.
Activating radar status...," the cold voice from the mech's A.I.
replied in response as soon as the mech unit reached that certain
position in the desert, while a white grid layout displayed itself on a
light blue of a monitor screen to the left of the pilot's arm rest.
Almost immediately after the screen flickered itself to a view, the
landscape, terrain and sensors were all scanned onto that small monitor
screen of the pilot's. And at almost the same time, all the other mechs
within the patrol formation of a long wall-like line halted at their
positions, waiting for the leader of the troop to say something, or
rather to confirm anything.
The light moustache of a man
twitched inside the small front cockpit of the lead mech as he looked
through the glass of the compacted room. It was a mid-afternoon that
day, almost close to evening telling by the clouds and the darkening of
the skies. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, save for the vast reaches of
sand and dune that lay out right in front of him, miles after miles of
a constant orange. How boring, he thought, as he glanced again once
more towards his monitor. Nothing at all. Funny, that the sensors
should not pick up any signs of readings in the area, when supposedly
this was reported enemy ground. But now it seemed as though it was
devoid of any life. Which made the scenery quiet, extremely silent and
such that it creeped himself out, for he could never know when the
enemy would strike. Whatever they were.
"Alright, boys. Point
Charlie reached. My sensors got nothing, how about you people?," spoke
a gruff, but uncertain voice into the small area of his mouthpiece. It
hung from the edge of his headset, dangling yet firm in his grasp as he
continued to glance in mutual boredom towards the sand.
"Bravo
leader, nothing at all. No sign of any activity within range," echoed a
voice into his comms device, coming from one of the mechs in his unit.
Smugly, the young man leaned back against his armchair and huffed out a
puff of air while the cool wind in the room circulated like a whirlpool
swept into his face. Leaning backwards and attending to his chin with
his left hand, as well as letting his left elbow rest on the armrest of
his chair, he glanced into the monitor screen that had shown the images
of the pilots in his company. Waving a hand, he replied:
"Alright,
remain in formation for five minutes. After that, point Delta and after
that off to HQ," he exclaimed lazily, before he tapped a button on the
edge of his screen, where it flickered again- disappearing the faces
and getting back to the grid layout that was displayed earlier.
"Sounds
like another day on patrol, eh Ryan!!?," shouted a voice and sudden
into his headset, startling him from his deep thought-like mood,
throwing him off balance from his armchair and into the controls in
front of him. A mere moment later, the same voice echoed a slight
chuckle into his headset, and the image of Ryan's wingman chuckled and
grinned away at his friend's slight misfortune. The main pilot scoffed.
"Bastard.
You better thank your luck that you're up there and not right next to
me, otherwise I would have just lost a wingman," scoffed the young man
towards his wingman through the monitor screen that stuck at the right
of him. His friend so eagerly brimmed his face with a sickening smile
that only seemed to make him more frustrated as he leaned back against
his armchair, only wanting to make himself feel more comfortable.
"Lighten
up, Ryan. It's not the end of the world, you know," his friend smiled
as through the monitor's view, picked up what looked to be like a beer
can as he sipped from it.
On a sunny mid-afternoon, just like any other on a planet not too far from theirs. It was sudden, the attack from whatever it was as nobody knew where they had originally come from. Some came from the land, underneath it when the enemy crept and burrowed most stealthily under sands and soil, only to jump out through the earth and raze to death all the adversaries, or rather everything in their path. Or rather of what had come from the skies, most beastly things unlike anyone has ever seen. Overrun the defenses set by the defenders the enemy did, though the aliens employed a most arcane method of warfare, which mostly melee attacks. The human initially scoffed at the ability of the adversary to do even anything, much less kill. But they scoffed no more when they saw the 'things ' came in at the thousands, hundreds and hundred of thousands. In just a few days, what beats were able to commit, proved to be most impossible and what would have taken to do.
Without a doubt, the fate of humanity within that planet was already known after a few days of terrible battle. The most defensive forts, fit with the greatest technological defenses- plasma turrets, flamelet guns and artillery, were unable to stem the beasts, that had at some times massacred entire towns in mere minutes. What was more frightening however of these aliens, whatever they were, seemed to have no life in them. Accounts of survivors had told of ho the enemy had charged ina most suicidal manner towards the human bases. Sometimes just allowing their own dead to become a barrier for their brethren to climb, thought they were as well massacred by the thousands.
Nothing had seemed to stop them, as even the fleet dispatched by the planet's air defenses were outnumbered by more than ten to one. Sensors were not even able to pick up the slightest activity at times, when the aliens hid. Then they struck, destroyed and most stealthily disappeared without any record of ever being seen. It was as if the enemy had never been there, though many, many places filled with burning wreckage, and thousands and thousands of bodies that literally flooded the streets, and cities that had all of a sudden, most grisly rivers of blood. It was a last stand for the millions of humans at their final stand, their capital city. Humanity lay in fear, cowering in the shadows and pleading for mercy, praying that they would be spared from the continued invasions. The other planets were unable to send forth their assistance for the attack had been so swift and smooth, that they were unable to even send a ragtag line of offense within a designated time. Nothing stopped the enemy, and not even the most powerful of their nuclear devices that had even broken apart the mountains seemed to deter the beasts from an all-certain mission- the total eradication of the human race. Even so, it was never expected when great lights appeared from the heavens, and incinerated all life on the planet.
Then again Ryan shivered in his cockpit and realized that it had come from the air-conditioning that he had so coldly switched to within the insides of his mech, and tapped a few controls on his nearby armrest. Less colder wind circulated around the tiny room as he held a mild grip on his mouth, while his wingman kept silent, for he too knew what his friend was thinking about and kept to his silence. It was terrible to know what these aliens were capable of, even more terrifying was of what they would or could even do when they got here. Scout reports from satellite sensors had confirmed one or two sightings of swarms that had descended upon the planet. But nothing more, and almost immediately the entire defenses of the planet had been mobilized, calling men and women to serve in all aspects of the armed forces. A few skirmishes have been reported, but nothing more. It was silent, deathly quiet as humanity waited for a response.
"Think they'll ever come?"
"Huh?," answered the young pilot, as he leaned backwards against his armchair, while the image of his wingman grit his teeth together.
"You think they'll come here? Like they did with the first? I mean whatever these things are, they do have some sort of fight in them, you know," replied the young wingman as well, while his pilot held a finger to the edge of his lips, as if in the process of contemplating something."I don't know, Ben. I mean, these things first they come and destroy almost everything we've ever seen in days. And well, I do have had a few cousins on there, and they're probably all gone by now. To those things. Whatever," he said aloud in the confinement of his cockpit, as if without a care in the world. And he was right to probably not care at all. When invaders massacred your own kind by the millions, and you were unable to prevent it from happening though you were so near, so close. Ryan had lost a few relatives on that planet when it was attacked, with such malevolence and power, literally lightning quick if possible.
"Yeah, whatever. And what these beasts really are, where they came from of what they want to do. Murderous bastards, intelligence calls 'em, though no official name yet. And what else, more enemies?""What? More what?"
You know those things that came down on the planet in the final hours? They call 'em massive alien ships, out of nowhere and burnt up the place, remember?," said Benjamin, gruffly he did though he felt a slight unease when he muttered those words of his. It was confusing to have one side attack you, and then another one would come and pick off at you and the first, but with total power. It was something that had even surpassed their own technology, when out of nowhere from the cold, blue void, fifty unknown alien warships (some so extremely massive, that had been known to be ten kilometres long!) appeared and almost instantaneously flamed the surface of the planet, claiming all life including the initial invaders. Strange, but oh so extremely dangerous.
"Yes. Who can forget?," Ryan replied, though not really witnessing first-hand the incinerating of a whole planet, had seen some footage of it (taken from survivors) from the military channels. Needless to say, all humanity was shocked and had gripped with fear, when every inch was not left untouched. Large, blue lights that hit the atmosphere, cutting through the layers of ozone life a hot bullet through flesh. The planet was nothing left but a literal hotbed, that crackled with fire.
"Can't we even stop them, whatever these things are? We have the most powerful equipment, the science stations, our battleships and the most deadly megaton warheads, and yet we are unable to keep these things at bay?""Seems so, Ben. It's as if what we throw at these things, they come back with more on their side. Makes me think.""Think what?"Whether we actually have a stand in this, this war," Ryan replied with an unhappy tone in his voice. A war, if you could actually call it a war, though there had been of course no declaration of war, or the privilege to ready before the storm. It had all come without warning, and it was no war. It was pure, downright slaughter. A slight beep echoed in the room of the front cockpit, and Ryan moved his neck to take a look at his main monitor. Tapping on it's screen, a transmission sent to him was received, while the image of one of his senior pilots showed up.
"Yes, lieutenant. How goest thee?," Ryan mockingly said, whether he said it out of unfound sarcasm or was just a plain burst of energy, he was unsure of. The lieutenant on the other side of the screen seemed to grumble and scoff at Ryan's attempt at the ancient form of language that he had used, and ignored it, trying not to pay anymore attention."Bravo leader, my sensors have just picked up something. Estimated two kilometres to the northeast of our formation. But readings are extremely faint.""Mechanical of any sort?""Negative, but it does seem to appear under life sensors. It's not moving, whatever it is, but my sensors are picking up things."
The company commander sat back against his seat and hummed to himself. Without warning, a cold trickle of sweat dropped down near his right sideburn and mingled with the skin of his cheek. At a possibility, it could have been a desert creature. A minodon, most probably- those desert-running bull-like creatures native to this hostile part of the world. Or worse, it could be traces of pirate or terrorist factions that took to hiding in the underground, at time just waiting for an ambush. If luck was not on their side, it could have been what they have heard of, and fear later. Ryan swept away the trickle of sweat that tickled his sideburn as it moved downwards, in direction of gravity. He would have to take necessary procedures, for even the slightest clue could lead to the biggest of findings, and especially now. Closing his transmission with his subordinate, he opened another one to his headquarters.
"Receiving you, bravo leader. What is your purpose of transmission?," answered on the other side of the screen the voice of the AI, cold and emotionless it was. He had wished at times the voice to change to those of the pretty girls that handled the comms, just for the sake of eye candy."Requesting comm-scan of location within patrol formation. Radius at likely five kilometres," he replied before his screen in front of him flickered and showed the face of a particular comms-girl. Mmm, eye candy, he noticed on her slightly tanned face, cutely and her dimples showing. For a second or two, he said nothing and merely smiled.".... granted. Will send contact to science sta.., commander?," she answered before she realized the young pilot's stare at her. She blushed slightly, as she did tend to get that reaction from a lot of the majority of men, though he concluded that this one wasn't bad-looking. Ryan let his long hair freely down from his scalp, reaching down to the edge of his shoulders.
"Say, what time do you get off work?""Lieutenant, this is a military chann...""I know, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it?""Very, since violating comms protocol is a very serious violation indeed," she giggled sweetly to herself, before she took a look behind her to make sure that she wasn't being eavesdropped on."At least can I have your name?""It's Jenny, and your request is granted, er...""Ryan," he smiled at her, meeting eye to eye with her through the screen, before she smiled and the transmission closed, leaving him lost into his own fantasy. A shout from a nearby wingman woke him back to reality.
"Oi! Quit fooling around, Ryan! I think the sensors are picking something," Benjamin muttered loudly, as he took a look at his own monitor. Just above his friend's cockpit, as he took a look in the vicinity of his own room, and noticed on the radar as the comms-scan began to reveal the landscape. Ryan opened his eyes almost instantly from Ben's earlier shout, but didn't bother to retaliate, and concentrated on the information on his screen.
Suddenly, on the screen next to his armrest, began to show in an instant hundreds or possibly a thousand of life sensors, with the nearest just two kilometres away. In the view of the landscape, as light description of the life sensors soon became known. Another bead of sweat dropped from the top of his forehead and onto his lap. The young pilot was dumbstruck and quickly noted that it was the sensors of not any human, but of something else, and whatever was gathering was of certain size and employed strange bodily systems.
"Not human. Oh shit, gotta get the hell outta here and call in for backup," Ryan thought to himself as he began to put on his helmet and quietly (though it made little difference) sent transmissions to the rest of his company.
"Company, retreat on my mark. We are outnumbered. I repeat, outnumbered. Fall back on my mark as soon as I call for backup. Wyverns going to come in and....," before a sudden explosion occurred within the formation line, and fire erupted from on the eleven mechs in the company. Ryan's voice trailed off into oblivion as he moved the body of his mech towards the view of the lastly placed mech in the formation. The young pilot noticed as the giant steel beast exploded, before what seemed to be like a collection of compacted greenish projectiles spread out from it's hull. His radar picked up something, and without hesitation launched a volley of missiles from the top hatches of his machine. The missiles shrieked with terrifying speed and accuracy before they struck something that seemed to emit a cry, not a cry of pain or fear, but something related to a death scream. It curdled the blood of the young human before the screamer exploded into an array of flying flesh, it's blood blasting onto the sand- shaking the scenery as the first of the weapons drew open.
"Retreat!!!," shouted the company leader, and in near-perfect unison, the rest of the mechs turned around from their stationary positions and sprinted towards the location of their headquarters. The enemy was upon them, and in a scramble a transmission was sent back to base:
"Emergency! Emergency! Enemy within point Charlie radius! Request backup now!!," screamed the young pilot into his comms, with intensity as well as fear combined into his voice. He did not know why he was shouting so loudly for in times of battle, calmness truly mattered before your emotions could get the better of you. But what could you expect, when out of the ground the enemy came and began to swarm in on them.
"No sir! Yes sir! Requesting bomber units, sir!," shouted Ryan into his comms in a hidden panic, and held onto his controls tightly, while slight bumps were felt around the mech as it moved across the sandy terrain. The other nine followed suit, in formation as they were not less than two minutes ago, yet slightly disorganized. And then the creatures arose from their hiding places, shaking the sand from their carapaces- thick and scaly, yet smooth and sharp-edged- and in a shrill cry that sounded bone-chilling to any grown man.
And from the distance, a vast swarm, an army that had earlier amassed itself from underground swept themselves to the above, and grunted around in unison. Upon noticing a small number of foreign objects on their horizon, without fail or any sign of hesitation cried into the air and charged headlong towards their victims, with teeth gnashing and claws clanging, so violently they thirsted for blood.
Benjamin Araths looked out from the small screen of his own cockpit. Swinging on the top of the mech with a move of a lever or two, the upper portion of the steel giant turned to it's rear in defensive position, ready to strike from the back while the body continued to advance forward in a hasty retreat. What met his eyes, shocked him for he had never seen the things or what they were on the field, and in that mere instant of a first sight, understood what the survivors meant by demonic.
Using his zoom functions that operated from a tiny piece at the top of his cockpit, he was almost thrown off his seat when he saw the faces, and the images of those that were truly moving, to destroy. Eyes red in an unknown bloodthirst gloomed even in the mid-afternoon sun, sharp scales that stuck out from the hides of those beasts, sharp enough to skewer through armor and clawing talons that were designed only to maim, decimate and destroy. It seemed like the perfect killing machine, these things. Were these some of the things that tore apart fortresses in mere minutes? Shredded body armor like paper and smashed through steel doors like they were loose walls of fiber? Now he knew, and remembered scoffing at the accounts of those who had fled from the first planet, even calling them cowards. To run from such an enemy, when you should have planted your faith in your weapons, when most of the enemy had was the arcane methods of melee.
And now he had regretted upon taking the first look of those things, things that have yet to be given a name. Things that were most likely going to destroy the mech that he was in and tear apart his friends into dibs and pieces. Regretted, yes. But would it have made a difference if you were prepared and knew the enemy already? Maybe, but not this enemy as the creatures the size of large dogs scampered at high speeds towards the retreating giants.
Blasts of auto-cannon fire escaped from the long barrels of the machines, quickly perforating through the hides of the powerful, yet versatile beasts- those that had already come too close. Yet it seemed as though they could not be stopped as it seemed that the fallings of their own brethren seemed to rekindle their bloodlust, and advanced even faster towards the humans. They were doomed. Doomed, unless they could be faster and outrun the beasts, or if reinforcements arrived in time.
"Reinforcements on their way. Fighters coming ETA two minutes," echoed a male voice in the comms of Ryan William's cockpit. The young pilot startled and grabbed at his mouthpiece with vigor and anger in his eyes."Dammit! I don't have two minutes! These things are now at least in half-a-kilometre's reach!," he shouted frantically as panic began to grip onto his emotions. He had seen battle before, and had defended many times against attacks made by terrorist factions, but never had been so severely overwhelmed."Then survive, lieutenant. Backup will be there. Out," the voice said lastly, almost as cold and emotionless as the AI itself.
Yes, say that behind your safe, little fortresses of yours. When you're not in the field, bastard.
And almost instantly, two of the last mechs were jumped upon by the large-sized insect-like creatures, and Ryan could hear the shocked screams of the pilots within their cockpits from his comms. The invaders swarmed upon the giants and tore through them, not before an array of Hellfire missiles detonated near the ground- and destroyed whole numbers of them. But to almost no avail, the mechs were broken through and it's occupants torn apart.
Banging onto his armrest with his fists, Ryan cursed at the things as he saw from a corner of his screen, as fire began to emit from the machines, before combusting into exploding balls of flame. He could not help but feel useless as his own mech crossed over a column of rock formations, followed by the remaining seven more of his company's machines.
Knowing that he could outrun the enemy no further, Ryan uttered a command into his mouthpiece, which all of a sudden made the rest of the mechs halt in their positions and turn towards the enemy."Fire!!," he shouted as the company swerved around and let loose their fill of their weapons at the oncoming aliens. 30mm auto-cannon projectiles flew first at incredible speeds in the hundreds, cutting down several of the frontline beasts as shrill cries and fountains of blood filled the air. Following suit, shrieks of Hellfire missiles made their way into the fray, impacting the sandy ground and detonating, sending body parts flying into all directions. One or two of the mechs that employed light artillery cannons also shot their way into the advancing legion of invaders. Though the attackers were slain to the near hundreds, they made no sign of stopping even as the first of the mechs were breached.
The giants were brought down and were swarmed as if they were a meal, ravaged by predators hungry for the taking. Even as balls of flame flew into the air, the things still continued to tear apart the wreckage, and for awhile Ryan was in awe of the creatures. He had never seen any other being, human or beast have such unparalleled ferocity and savagery.
"So much for getting to meet Jenny," he thought as one by one he noticed from his cockpit, the powerful mechs that were tumbled down or even destroyed while standing."Guess this is the end. Dammit," Ryan thought again when the last other mech in his company had been eviscerated, and could hear his wingman whimpering in his seat. He took his controls and began to fire all his weapons that he had left, firing at the enemy- screaming as he did it. And like all the others, his own mech was swarmed, but not before he pressed a button that opened the cockpit of his mech into half, and out of it flew an escape pod that shot through the air and landed less than a hundred metres from his vehicle.
The pod landed on the ground with a hard smack, throwing all sand around it with force. It's hatch opened, and Ryan could only watch helplessly as the body of his wingman was ripped apart into chunks, blood pouring onto the sand. Grabbing an automatic rifle that sat beside his armchair, he crept out of the escape pod and coughed in pain. His long hair swept in the wind as he landed the lower fame of his body on the sand and against his smoking pod. Picking up his gun, the young lieutenant lethargically aimed it at the oncoming beasts as they began to pick up his trail and darted at him.
And all of a sudden, out of nowhere in front of Ryan, images and mirages began to appear. Trickles of blue light that seemed brighter and more striking than that of the hot, scorching sun. For a while, he could only think of it as his dreams, his last moments before he would be taken from his life, albeit a most violent one. The young human shut his eyes tightly and clutched his rifle even tighter, and awaited his doom as he fired blindly bullets into all directions. But it had not arrived, when in the heat of the desert came the familiar shrill cries of those that had earlier swamped his companions. Suddenly, he could hear the sounds of battle in front of him and the searing of flesh. He dared not open his eyes, until at last the sounds began to die down.
His nose twitched as a slow trickle of blood and sweat dipped down his sideburn, and slowly as well his eyelids began to open to view for his seeing. What the young man saw, he had never expected and gnashed his teeth at the sight of it. All the enemy lay on the sand, and in the counts of nearing a thousand. Ryan was confused as he heard unknown and unfamiliar voices during the battle, while he picked himself up from the ground- his eyesight slowly returning to him.
All around him was death, and it was staring him in the face. He would have concluded that it was the bomber crafts that had arrived in the nick of time, but they were nowhere to be seen. All was deathly silent once more, and the young lieutenant shuddered in fear. Though his eyes were hazy, he could only notice as a figure began to advance towards him, slowly walking before it stopped right in front of him. It towered over the human, but seemed far from similar to those that had attacked him only minutes earlier. Blue light only seemed to emanate from the creature's skin as it took a look at him, with an aura that glowed thickly in it's eyes.
For what seemed like an eternity, both of them stared at each other, and slowly the smaller being's eyesight began to return fully to him. Several more of the other beings appeared in his sight, some in a standing position, yet a few more in the form of machines. Machines that resembled his own mechs, but vaguely more like a spider's. The Ryan realized it, that what had actually defeated the beasts was in front of him, staring into him, as if reading him. The young man felt fear, but a different kind of fear, more of a kind that closely related itself to respect and awe.
With a slow hand, the greater creature stretched out towards the man, as Ryan dropped his own weapon to the ground, knowing full well that it would be useless against this new being. Then he began to hear mysterious words, that seemed to translate into his own language, before the trickles of blue appeared again, and with a flash the being and all those that were like it disappeared into the air:
"The end has become."