For a few
The very air around him felt bloodthirsty and menacing, like the planet itself was a beast full of hatred. His surroundings were static and purple, the only things he could make out were alien shapes in the distance.
He lifted his assault rifle and drew his blade. A piercing shriek pierced through his helmet and into his ears, this was a cry to gather it's brothers.
But he wasn't about to go down like this, so he himself let out a war cry. The greatest and loudest he had done in his lifetime, and most probably his last.
The shadows closed in, they looked like-
"-ine! Carmine can you hear me?!"
Carmine's eyes shot wide open.
"Oh good, you're awake now."
Carmine blinked a few times as the memories flooded back into his mind.
"Holy shit. Uh, thanks Hux. Did I?"
Lieutenant Commander Huxley nodded his head.
"You were the only one standing when we entered the storm and nearly crash landed. Somehow you managed to save yourself from any serious damage, but you hit the wall pretty hard. Now come, the Captain is waiting."
Carmine lifted himself up onto his feet, the dream still playing through his mind. He would have to make a log of it later.
He walked off the ship, everyone had already started doing their duties. A few marines were salvaging parts of the ship and Captain Exeter was standing at the nearby terminal.
"Carmine! I'm glad you woke up. You will be part of the ops team, get in there and do your job. I suppose you know what that is?"
Carmine saluted.
"Yes sir! I'll kill any hostile that tries to harm the kids."
Exeter shook his head.
"Get to work soldier!"
Carmine turned around and took a step, before he could continue he felt a hand clasp his shoulder.
"Something wrong Captain?"
Exeter let go
"Be careful. This planet, it. It feels wrong. As if its…"
"Sick?"
Carmine turned around to face his Captain, the two had worked together since Carmine joined the marine corps. The Captain trusted him with more than he did the others.
"Yes. Sick. I just can't figure out what's infecting it."
Carmine nodded his head before turning around.
"I have a feeling we might know sooner than we would like, Captain. I'll make sure everyone stays safe, I'll report anything unusual to you myself."
It was silent for one long second before Exeter turned back to the terminal.
"Move out."
Carmine observed as his comrades brought in crates of supplies and set up terminals. The engineer was busy setting up energy stations to power their equipment, and the gates they were planning to set up.
He didn't like any of it.
Though he didn't know why, if all they had to worry about were local wildlife and space pirates, it was perfect. This was the most effective way to defend from them.
His dream coursed through his mind, Carmine shook his head. He would have to talk to the doctor about it.
"Isn't this exciting?"
Specialist Angseth punched Carmine in the shoulder.
"The whole thing feels like one of those novels! I wonder if we will discover some secret space pirate base or something! Wouldn't that be fun? Shoot em up, leave, and get promoted!"
Carmine shook his head.
"I feel like if we find anything, it will be worse than space pirates."
Angseth tilted her head to the side. After a few moments of silence, she decided to ask.
"Like what?"
"Nevermind. I hit my head pretty hard, I need to talk to the doctor after the base is finished. What were you assigned to?"
Angseth growled and crossed her arms.
"I, Angseth, who can outshoot most of the men here, got monitor duty. I have to send fucking reports and messages to them at the ship. I didn't sign up for this! If It was Samus, I bet she would have already finished taking care of business."
Carmine smiled.
"Probably. Samus Aran is on a whole other level than we are, blowing up space pirate bases and the like. Though I would love to have a friendly duel with her if I ever get the chance."
Angseth laughed loudly.
"Even you would get your ass kicked Carmine."
He laughed with her.
"You two! Stop watching and start helping!"
Their platoon leader, 1st Lieutenant Smythe barked at them.
The two marines saluted before getting to work.
"I want you, Reeves and Brouda to go on a scouting mission. Make sure the area is clear of all hostiles, especially space pirates. Do not engage anything you doubt you could kill on your own."
Gunnery Sergeant Benet ordered Carmine, he was only a level below Smythe.
"Yes sir, I'll get to it right away."
Benet turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks.
"Oh and Carmine, be careful. We aren't welcome here."
Carmine tilted his head, with each passing comment and day his dream was starting to look more like reality than well, a dream.
A few moments later, Carmine stood in front of Specialist Reeves and Private Brouda. Two men he trusted, though did not know too well. He knew Reeves was their science trooper, while Brouda was brave and serious.
"Ready?"
"Yes sir."
The two shouted in unison.
The three marines exited the relative safety of the ops base and entered the wide open wilds for the first time. Carmine felt the familiar feeling of excitement swell up within him, he was reminded of his days before the galactic Federation.
He started out on a brisk jog, Reeves and Brouda followed close behind. Staying in formation.
"So do you think we will find anything other than fucking Splinters and War Wasps?"
Brouda asked out of frustration.
The three were setting up a makeshift camp on a small cliff. The base was too far back to get to before nightfall and Carmine hadn't been satisfied with the amount of land they had mapped out.
"Probably. We might run into Space Pirates soon enough, considering they didn't crash land that far from us."
Reeves took a bite out of his rations and studied his log book. All the new information he had gathered from the surroundings would need to be shared.
Carmine looked out over the cliff, it was pitch black at night.
"Find anything interesting Reeves?"
"Actually yes. There are plenty of strange alien artifacts lying about, as we know, that point to there being an advanced alien race living here. Or at least, one that used to live here. Its strange we haven't come across any as of yet."
Carmine nodded his head, still staring down the cliff and scanning the nearby surroundings.
"Brouda, your rifle is fully loaded right?"
Both Reeve's and Brouda looked over at their leader curiously.
"Yes sir?"
"Good. I'm spotting movement below us."
The sound of a blade being drawn from its hilt rang in their ears. Carmine was getting ready to fight, seriously.
"Keep your rifles up and your wits about you, this is not normal. Neither Splinters or War Wasps are naturally nocturnal, as Reeves would know."
The two soldiers exchanged knowing looks.
"Be careful Carmine, we will be fine. Our rifles are full and ready for combat."
Brouda lifted his gun, Reeves did the same.
"Good, now lets hope you are ready for combat."
Carmine crouched and quickly set out, going down the only way up the cliff.
He heard their legs hitting the ground as they crawled about. Carmine made sure to stay out of their sight.
They moved around in the shadows, just like in his dreams. Just smaller and less... dark.
But watching these shadows gave him the same feeling as the dream had. It was sickening, disgusting and enraging to him.
Carmine had to keep his cool, he snuck closer to the group of strange insects.
What he saw made him blink a few times.
They were splinters, but not really. Instead of gray, these things were a deep dark purple. Their eyes held more hate and bloodlust than any normal animal would.
That's when he saw the last gray splinter get taken over by some strange and dark infection. It struggled to keep its body to no avail.
Its body was now run by an entirely new creature.
He had to get back to Brouda and Reeves. Reeves was a scientist, with little battle experience. Brouda was brave, but still green. If anything happened to them while he was gone...
Carmine started sneaking off, but he didn't get far before the purple Splinters spotted him.
A horrible shriek filled the valley, Carmine turned around just in time. He slashed the jumping bug before it could latch onto him. It fell into two pieces on the ground.
'Even their insides are fucking purple.'
He strafed backwards to dodge the next few attackers. He unloaded a burst of energy shots into the group, killing a few of them.
Carmine charged and cut one of them down the middle before it could react, then kicked the nearest one against a boulder.
The last mutated Splinter latched onto his arm, Carmine rammed it against a nearby wall and stabbed it in the eye.
He let the body drop and sprinted back up to where his two comrades were, purple blood sticking to his armor.
"Carmine are you alright we heard rifle shots- holy fuck what is that?!"
Brouda stopped in his tracks and immediately started scanning the surroundings. Reeves ran up to Carmine and inspected the blood more closely.
"This is not natural. Carmine wh-"
"The Splinters were being possessed or whatever by some dark energy. It changed them into something new! Get back up to the camp! We need to fortify ourselves for tonight!"
Once Carmine finished shouting, Brouda let out a yell and shot one of the purple splinters. It exploded into purple guts, Reeves stumbled backwards before raising his own rifle.
Carmine shouted at them to go back to camp once again, this time they listened. Holding their combat stances, they each efficiently and safely reached the camp.
"What the fuck was that?"
Brouda shouted as he ducked behind a large stone before looking around it.
"Reeves?"
Carmine asked as he shot into a small advancing group of the insects.
"The scanner says they have been taken over by an unknown parasitic energy force. Th-this might be a transdimensional sickness!"
Brouda rounded the stone he was behind and let loose on yet another grouping of these insects.
"Whatever they are, they don't end!"
Carmine growled.
"We need to get out of here! Staying immobile is what will get us killed against these things! Follow my lead!"
Reeves quickly gathered any supplies he could as Brouda covered him. Then they immediately ran after Carmine, whom had put to work what the Captain kept him around for.
Killing.
His rifle whittled them down before his curved blade cut straight through any that were still alive.
He surprised them by being more aggressive and violent than they were.
Brouda and Reeve's covering fire killed any that remained alive after Carmine cut through them, effectively keeping all three of them uninjured.
They broke out of the grouping of mutated insects and ran back towards the base. Carmine led the way, following the map they had created through their travels.
"Our comms just had to be fucking ruined by that storm! If they hadn't been we could call for help and tell them to be ready to open the gate!"
Reeves smacked the side of his helmet.
"Reeves stop yelling! You will let them know where we are!"
Brouda hissed loudly.
Carmine stopped and threw the signal up for them to stop as well. This also forced them to shut up and raise their rifles again.
Carmine signaled to a small cave, they immediately entered it and made sure it was clear. Carmine followed close behind.
They held their breaths as a large group of those insects crawled past them, their numbers seemed endless.
After a few minutes of silence, Carmine decided to go see if it was clear.
He jumped and rolled, his rifle and blade held at the ready.
It was all clear, he waved to his comrades and they quickly ran behind him, rifles still up.
"I-if we get caught sitting still by those things we'll fucking die!"
Reeves shaky voice was the first to break the silence.
Carmine nodded his head
"Let's get moving! The base is only a mile further, double time it!"
That is exactly what they did.
"Open the fuck up!"
Private Brouda smashed the gate with his fists.
"The gate must be locked in place. This is not good, we will have to wait until they fix the damned thing."
Reeves inspected the gate with his scanner.
Carmine kept a watch on their backs. They needed to last at least another hour and he wasn't about to break his promise to the Captain.
"Brouda save your energy, if we get attacked you are going to need it. Plus if you make too much noise you will let them know we are here, right?"
Brouda hung his head in shame at this realization, he had just been yelling at Reeves ten minutes ago.
"Yes sir sorry sir."
He reloaded his near empty rifle and crouched behind a medium sized boulder.
"Sorry guys, you need to buy me enough time to unlock the gate. Give me fifteen minutes and it should be open."
Carmine looked back at Reeves.
"You can open it from here?"
Reeves nodded his head.
"It's extremely difficult, but I can do it."
"Get to it Reeves."
Private Mckalla lifted his head at the sound of banging on the gate. It must be wildlife, if it was Carmine, Brouda and Reeves, the gate would already be open.
"Wait no, they can't open it from that side. And I think I heard Brouda's voice…"
"Fuck!"
Mckalla ran over to the gate controls, he pounded on them to open the gate.
It wasn't working.
"Shit! Fucking damn it! Angseth help!"
Angseth had been back in the control room to speak to Gunnery Sergeant Benet, she ran right over to the Private.
"What's wrong?"
"The gate is stuck! Carmine, Brouda and Reeves are stuck outside!"
Angseth's eyes widened in her helmet. She immediately got to work on the controls.
"Get the engineer, now!"
Mckalla nodded his head and ran off.
Angseth felt this strange fear growing in her chest, why she had no idea. As far as they knew, there was nothing to worry about on this planet besides the Space Pirates.
Carmines words ran through her head.
'I feel like if we find anything, it will be worse than Space Pirates."
She started working faster.
Senge, the Engineer, ran up next to Angseth.
Angseth motioned for him to get to fixing it, he nodded his head. Mckalla went to assist the engineer.
"What the hell is going on over here?"
Benet strode over to Angseth.
"Carmine and his group are stuck outside, Mckalla says Brouda was banging on the door and yelling. Sounds like they were desperate."
Benet stood up straight.
"They should be fine for a while more, Carmine is one of the greatest fighters I know and the other two aren't pushovers either. Get them inside soldiers!"
They worked faster and more hopeful because of their Sergeant's words. He himself began inspecting the locks with the engineer and Mckalla.
Ten minutes later the locks suddenly popped open and the gate slowly slid backwards. Reeves and Brouda were the first to burst inside, Carmine followed after them, shooting a few shots behind him.
"Close the gate now!"
Reeves shouted.
Angseth complied and slammed the button to close the gate.
It shut back into place before whatever it was they were shooting at could get in.
Benet walked up to the three marines.
"What happened out there? What were you shooting at?"
Carmine stepped up to explain, the other two were still catching their breath.
"We were going through our scouting mission smoothly, after scouting the surrounding area for two miles around, we decided to set up camp. There was a strange alien door Reeves wanted to inspect when it was light out again and I wasn't satisfied with what we found… "
He continued to explain the entire thing with his comrades listening and working at the same time.
"Report this to the Captain immediately and put all units on full alert! Get to it!"
Benet barked roughly, he himself went to speak with Lieutenant Smythe.
A few days later, Carmine sat in the makeshift mess hall sharpening his trademark blade. His mother had it specially forged for him when he was thirteen years old, he had already been training in the combat arts for eight years by then.
This short curved sword was made from the strongest metals in the known universe, and it was able to hold a blade sharp enough to cut through most armor and carapaces. It had served him better than any beam weapon or grenade, thus he found comfort in it.
His armor was a gift from his father, custom made for him when he graduated from the marine academy. Lighter than the standard issued marine armor and stronger too. It was perfect for him.
Carmine didn't know why he was thinking of his parents at the moment. He needed to go see the doctor about his dreams and that was just what he was going to do.
A few minutes later he arrived at the doctors temporary office.
Huxley turned around, a solemn expression on his face.
"You need to talk to me about something Carmine?"
Carmine nodded his head in response.
"I've been having this dream, every time I go to sleep."
Huxley nodded his head.
"Recurring. I see. What is this dream about?"
So for the next ten minutes Carmine described what happened in detail. The strange shadows, the dark energy, preparing to fight to the death. He told all of it and how the scouting mission felt related to the dream.
"So what do you think?"
Carmine rubbed the back of his head.
"A few things could cause such recurring dreams. Stress, imagination, sickness of the mind. But, I doubt it's any of those."
Huxley cracked his knuckles and Carmine tilted his head.
"As we both know, this planet is unique. You saw this dark energy yourself when you fought with those mutated splinters. We know you saw it because there were two witnesses, and it was recorded in your suits personal camera…"
Huxley sighed.
"It could be that you are more sensitive to this planet's unique energy than most. Don't tell the others I am saying this to you, they may take my medical status away."
Carmine smiled, it did not last long.
"Do you think this dark energy is affecting my mind?! Could I be sick?"
Huxley shook his head.
"That is a possibility, but I doubt it. It seems that whatever this dark energy touches is turned into some dark beast. I do not believe it would be easy to take over your mind, do you?"
Carmine ran his left hand over the hilt of his short sword.
"Thanks Hux, I should get back to work now. Stay safe."
Carmine saluted to the doctor and left to go check on the rest of his comrades.
Angseth slammed her rations down on the table Carmine had been sitting at. This grabbed his attention immediately.
"Something wrong?"
Angseth sighed audibly.
"Of course there is something wrong! I'm stuck at a fucking monitor all day! While you guys get to go out there and fight strange purple alien things. I want to go out there and help, like Samus would!"
Before Carmine could reply, a nearby trooper laughed under his breath.
"And what are you laughin at Private Crany?!"
"I'm sorry mam but I just can't believe you think Samus is real. Someone who blows up Space Pirate Planets and saves the galaxy is just a legend, like Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny."
Angseth shared a look with Carmine, the two of them then started laughing.
This utterly confused the Private, he was expecting Angseth to be angry. Instead they simply laughed.
"Listen kid, ignorance is bliss. Someone like you may want to keep it that way."
Carmine turned towards Crany and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Angseth nodded her head.
"Someone who equates mythical beings with a real live bounty hunter, I should have expected this. Plenty of the higher ups have given her missions you know."
Crany scoffed.
"Believe whatever you want, I see no evidence for her existence. I will be taking my leave now."
The young man saluted to his superiors before exiting the mess hall.
Angseth turned her attention back to Carmine.
"Anyways, please talk to the Lieutenant. Tell him I would be far better suited for the scouting missions, or out in the field. I mean, I'm way more able in combat than most of the men here and you know that!"
Carmine stood up and sheathed his sword.
"Of course I do Angseth, doesn't mean these guys do. I will talk to him for you, hopefully we will be out on a mission together in the next few days."
Angseth's face lit up.
"You don't know how much this means to me! Even if it doesn't work, I know I can trust ya."
She punched his shoulder before taking her leave. Carmine smiled to himself and went to speak with Lieutenant Smythe.
"Mckalla! Hit the switch!"
Carmine roared over the sound of energy beam rounds.
Mckalla sprinted over to the terminal and smoothly pressed the button on the terminal screen.
The pesticides immediately took effect. The troopers retreated from the area and went back inside the base.
Everyone began celebrating their small victory, all except for Specialist Reeves. He was the one who would hand in the report after the mission's end.
"I shot at least fifty before you boys finally got that shit up and running! So I don't want to hear any sexist shit from here on out."
Angseth draped her arms over Reeve's and Brouda's shoulders, her gaze directed at Crany.
The Private laughed along with the rest of the marines, she really had out shot them all.
Carmine walked up to his three friends.
"You don't look so hot Reeves. Something on your mind?"
The scientist looked up at his respected comrade.
"I. Well. This doesn't seem like such a good idea to me. Especially with that purple shit popping up everywhere. I mean this could help us lower the number of hostiles in the area, or it could help us die. This hive, could be one of many, and each one could be linked. Imagine if ten times the number of the ones we have had to deal with attacked, and imagine if all of them were taken by that dark energy."
Reeves three comrades silently pondered over his words for a few seconds.
Carmine stood up straight.
"You may be right Reeves. I don't think what we are doing is best for our survival."
"This is new, what do you mean?"
Angseth pushed the two others away and crossed her arms.
"We are spread too thin and are far too stagnant. We can not force our way through hundreds of thousands of these splinters. Especially considering there are probably at least a hundred alpha's out there. We need to be more mobile and aggressive, kill the space pirates and get out of here. They know where we are, and if we stay here our chances of survival against this dark energy is... "
Silence fell over the marines. They knew what he wanted to say, but none of them wanted to hear it all the same.
"You're right Carmine. We need to be more agile. These pirates might already be gone, setting up a base like this with nothing but parts of the ship and the supplies we took with us on patrol. We won't last."
Brouda shook his head and stared at the ground.
"Seriously this makes me wonder why you aren't the commanding officer. You sound like you get more shit done than Exeter does."
Angseth sat down on a nearby crate.
"Do not talk bad about the Captain! He is the one man I trust to command me wisely. I will speak with him."
With that Carmine exited the room without giving them a chance to reply.
Exeter immediately turned his attention to his trusted Comrade when he arrived, looking angrier than usual.
"Did something happen Carmine?"
Carmine signalled he wanted to talk on the ship, away from prying ears.
When the two of them were seated comfortably across from each other, Carmine looked his commanding officer in the eyes.
"Captain, this isn't working."
Exeter nodded his head up and down.
"You mean the way we are proceeding with this mission?"
"Yes. We need to find the pirates and eliminate them as fast as possible. Reeves will supply a report that will back me up. If we stay here we will be overrun by the infected splinters. This dark energy, these men and women should not be here."
Exeter looked at the ground as he listened, deep in thought.
"And you think you would be able to defeat this dark energy on your own?"
Carmine did not answer.
"Listen Carmine, I know you do not want to see anyone die. But your life matters too!"
"Captain please listen! We need to go out, complete our mission and look for a better place to set up a communications base. That is our only chance!"
Exeter furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"I agree. We are too still. But most of these marines are too green to understand how to be aggressive and mobile without a goal, so let's compromise. You can take yourself and three trusted individuals with you to find the pirates, mark their location on the map and come back here. Only then will I order a mobile assault."
Carmine pondered his words. Then nodded his head.
"Don't worry Captain, hold out for three days and I'll have those pirates dug up."
Half an hour later Carmine successfully convinced Angseth, Brouda, and Reeves to be in his squad for the mission. He already had permission from the Captain, so Smythe couldn't force Angseth to stay. This of course made her ecstatic.
Carmines squad members gathered supplies while he planned their course of action. Though he wouldn't admit it to his superiors, he usually only had a general idea of what to do, then would figure it out on the way.
Angseth was the first to finish preparations. Brouda was next and Reeves took the longest since he wanted to bring some extra equipment just in case they ran into one of those alien doors again.
Carmine signaled for Mckalla to open the gate, he nodded and pressed the controls.
Carmines team and five other marines raised their rifles, prepared to deal with the mutated splinters if any were waiting on the other side.
Thankfully it was clear, Carmine and his three comrades jogged off into the wilds once again.
A few hours later they came across a door that looked similar to the one Reeves wished to inspect the last time they had been out scouting.
As Reeves began scanning and deciphering the alien text, the other three watched his back.
"I find it strange we haven't spotted any purple splinters yet. Maybe the pesticides really did help?"
Angseth inspected her rifle as she spoke.
Brouda shrugged his shoulders and continued scanning the area.
"It may help for a few days, maybe even weeks. But once the other hives, lets hope there aren't any, get wind of it. We won't be able to stand up to their numbers."
Carmine had begun to sharpen his blade, contemplating their situation. He thought he saw the body of some alien on the other side of the door Reeves was studying, that did not bode well for them.
"Will figuring out how to open these doors actually help us? Even if we do open them, what will we find?"
Angseth aimed her gun into the distance.
"We might find help from whatever race is native to this planet."
A loud bang erupted from behind them.
Carmine spun around, to find Reeves standing in front of the gate, his fist hadn't moved from where it landed.
" The only thing I can figure out; is this writing is about some temple. Otherwise I have nothing. I'll need a whole team down here in order to open it."
Carmine shook his head.
"Let's hunt some Space Pirates."
The four marines moved further out than they had been before, rifles at the ready.