Edd gripped the restraints tightly, so tightly his fingers were hurting, the drop ship was rocking violently from the atmospheric pressure change. Edd hated to fly, he hated it more then anything in the world, and he hated space. Most would think it was a dream of his to be in space, to explore unknown worlds, truth was he would have loved to be an scientific explorer with his own team. But.. after he found out that there were monsters in the deeper darker places of space he elected to never go down that road. It had been years ago when the mysterious creature known only as the Xenomorph was discovered, and the ones who did discover it died all except for one who was able to escape it and she barely made it out alive. If there was such a thing as luck she would have had it, Edd couldn't even pretend to imagine what it was like to see such a creature face to face none the less fight it. He had studied the creature as a research paper in his final year of college, he had been fascinated with it, addicted to it actually. Such a creature was rare, a creature with high intelligence, acid blood, and deadly even as a baby, its growth rate, it was phenomenal. If he had only know his expertise on the creature would land him in this shaking ship about to meet the thing, he would have never once studied the thing none the less become to interested in it.
"Colonel were approaching our LZ, afterburners activating now, ETA ten seconds."
The pilot spoke over the intercom as the ship stabilized and became less shaky, Edd closed his eye's as he counted down in his head until the ship rocked one last time and then became still. When Edd felt the hand on his shoulder he opened his eye's to see Lee standing over him with a reassuring smile, her hand was firm yet somewhat comforting. Edd had known Lee since he was a kid, she was strong even then and to say she was strong now would be an understatement. He remembered how she once upon a time used to have a huge crush on him, it was rather devastating when Edd realized he was into guys and not woman, Lee hadn't exactly taken it well which is why she joined the marines to begin with or at least that's what he always figured. She was a good woman, a strong woman and the marines turned her into and even better person and truth be told Edd was relieved she was part of the team that would protect his life.
"Ok boys its about to be go time. I know that many of you are itching to get some acid blood tonight, get payback on that bastard Xeno's. Major Digger and his unit didn't deserve to die like this, they were soldiers just like us and they fought to protect us from this menace. They sacrificed their lives so that we may live not in fear that these creatures would destroy us and our way of life. The time for payback will come, but it is not now, we have a mission and that mission is to protect this man here against an adversary that knows no pain, no fear, and will kill you just as soon as look at you. The data he is here to gather could very well bring us one step closer to eliminating these acid blooded bastards for good, and we will not fail. We are Destroyer, we are elite soldiers, we are the gate keepers between our world and these monsters that would take it from us! We will not fear, we will not know defeat, we will bathe in victory and we will give justice for Major Digger and his men! Move out!"
There was a chorus of yes ma'ams as the various members of Destroyer unbuckled their restraints and grabbed their weapons in hand. The door to the cargo bay lowered itself shrilly as a harsh wind blew up into the ship. Edd shook again as he felt the air hit his face, he turned slowly and grabbed the black case beside him, however he was frozen to his spot, he did not think he could do this, he couldn't go in there. All manner of thoughts were racing through his head, his heart was playing bongo drums in his chest, the self doubt was setting in now that they were here. When Edd felt the warm kiss upon his lips, he opened his eye's almost in a dream like haze as he fell willingly into the kiss from Kevin letting them close again. When it ended Edd wanted to reach forward and make it last so much longer, however he felt himself pulled up.
"Don't worry my love, I won't let you fall or will I let myself fail. You are everything to me, ever since we were kids, even if I didn't always know it. It was a rough start for us, and it held so much pain, but I would do it over and over again if I ever had the choice to go back. I know this is the last place you want to be, but when this is over me and you are going on a vacation far from any of this. Just take my hand and we will do this together, like it has always been."
Edd smiled wearily as he let Kevin's hand cover his own, when did the redhead find the time to become so good with words? Feeling himself rise both of them walked down the ramp and into the windy air of Dego I. The planet was quite fierce when it came to the atmosphere, it had very similar aspects earth would have as far as breathable air was concerned but the constant blackened sky and the eternal like gloom and the harsh winds made it an undesirable place to live.
"Captain its time to take formation, everyone take battle formation D, Edd get in the center once those doors open you need to be safe at all costs."
The group of men quickly took on a v shaped formation, they surrounded Edd silently shielding him from harm. Keven took his place in front of Edd while another took position behind him to watch the rear. Once formed they moved as one towards the large metal doors of the Phobo's Research Facility.
"Lieutenant are we getting anything on the scanner?"
"No ma'am its completely clear, could be due to the atmosphere though I can get a more positive reading inside the facility, but for now everything looks pretty dead."
Lee was silent as she lead her men, to simply say she had misgivings about this entire thing would be an understatement. It was one thing for her and her team to go into hell but Edd was not a soldier, hell he didn't even know how to use a gun. She had tried hard to ensure he wouldn't have to come here, but the board was adamant because as useless as he was in a fight his knowledge on the Xenomorphs was invaluable. In truth Edd was the one who figured out some of the best ways to take down an Xenomorph with fewer casualties. His research had not only improved their weapons, but evolved the way they fought the species itself. He did not know but he had saved more lives from within a lab on earth then most marines did in a life time. Hell the armor they all wore was developed by Edd to counteract the highly acidic blood of the creature. He did not deserve to be put in danger, but it was clear that the board was willing to risk everything for this data, and this meant that there was probably more to this then even Lee was told.
"Corporal get out the torch and get this door down and step on it!"
"Yes ma'am"
The young corporal was silent as he pulled the torch from his pack, with a click and a snap the flame came to life and instantly started melting the metal of the steel sheet that covered the entrance. Lee watched silently, the sparks flew wildly as her eye's darted left and right watching for signs of movement, there none though, it was eerily dead on this planet and she did not like it one bit. This wasn't the first time she walked into a mission like this, you did not become a Colonel in this type of work by being inexperienced. In truth she had seen her fair share of death and even came close herself more times then she cared to admit. The feeling inside her chest though wasn't because of the mission though, the feeling in her chest was because of Major Digger, none of the men really knew it but her and Digger knew each other. He was actually the one who trained her, when she had joined the marines he had been in for three years already and was her commanding officer. He was the strongest man she had ever known and had gone through living hell that many wouldn't be able to go through. They had fallen for each other hard but the love they had was not meant to be. Lee had been an exemplary soldier and because of her skills she was offered her own team, she rose through the ranks quickly but at the cost of losing Digger. Her career as a marine, her need to prove herself more important then her love, and now standing outside this door was like a bad dream, no a nightmare. She did not want him to be dead, she wanted him to somehow have survived... she did not realize until the call came that they lost communication with his squad just how much she still felt for him.
"Were thru Colonel."
Lee sighed to herself as she nodded her head at the corporal, the metal sheet that blocked their entrance was pulled aside revealing the pressurized door within. Reaching forward Lee pulled the manual release. With a hiss the door rose and revealed the darkened hallways within.
"Lets go, two by two formation, Edd stay in the center, take a front and rear position, remember top priority to keeping Edd safe. Lets move out, Lieutenant I need another reading ar you getting anything on the scanner?"
Lee barked out commands as they entered the facility, her eye's were meant with a scene of pure destruction. The hallway was torn to shreds from ceiling to floor, blood was splattered on every surface, furniture and equipment was scattered all around.
"Were all clear colonel I have absolutely no movement on the scanner, reports are confirmed that power to the facility is completely offline."
Lee stood at the entrance to the facility silently looking around, the scene was chilling not because of the destruction but because there were no bodies at all. It was not normal, there was always bodies, but there was none here, just blood and mayhem.
"Captain we need to establish power and a base of operations, I want you to find the breakers and see what you can get us, take Grant and Henry with you. Baker, Ross start securing the front hallway. Hallz, George, John, Cam, take the east and west corridors. James, Dedric, Edd you will remain with me. Lieutenant switch to helmet radar and keep me updated on all movement, if something is coming I want to know immediately."
Each man gave their approval of their orders and started off in different directions, Edd watched as Kevin started to move away from him. His heart was pounding in his chest as he disappeared around a corner, he hoped he would be okay and safe, the entire facility was in complete disarray, the blood was still wet in some places. Edd felt a sudden need to throw up but he suppressed the urge, he had seen this before but only in pictures, regardless he had to be strong for Kevin and everyone else who was counting on him, protecting him.
Kevin walked silently down the darkened corridor of the facility, his eye's darted in every direction looking for any sign of movements. The radar in his helmet was pinging quietly in his ear, he couldn't see any sign of presence aside from his team. None of this felt right, it was not normal by any means, there were no bodies and an attack like this would produce them. It was hard to think though at that moment knowing his true love was here with him, he was not afraid to admit he was scared of losing him even if didn't say it out loud. Edd did not need doubt right now, he needed inspiration and courage to face this nightmare. Truth was Kevin couldn't live without Edd, he didn't want to. All the things they went through to find their love for each other, he was still trying to make up for the way he treated Edd when he was trying to come to grips with his love for him. He didn't deserve the forgiveness he had received and it ate away at him everyday. He had pushed him away, hurt his feelings, broke his heart, and even through all that Edd still loved him. Nazz had been right, she was always right, he only wished he would have listened when she told him to love him instead of betraying him to pride. Kevin breathed heavily as he approached the stairway which lead to the sub level, it was where the maintenance area was located. Approaching slowly the door to the level was completely ripped from the hinges, clicking on the flashlight on his helmet he looked at the lining of the door silently. It has been shot with a high power assault rifle and then torn away.
"Colonel we found the entrance to the sub level the door has been shot off, I am proceeding down with caution over. Grant stay here and secure the entrance, keep your eye's open and your ears on point."
"Yes Sir"
Kevin trained the light on the stairwell as he began to make his way down, aside from the door being ripped off the area was less destroyed then the others. Putting his hand on the railing Kevin quickly took it away, he looked at his hands realizing it was covered in slime.
"Shit.."
Kevin quickly wiped his hand and switched his radar to visual view but there nothing, no movement, no noise, just... nothing.
"Henry eye's open we may have company somewhere down here."
Kevin raised his rifle and finished descending the stairs, taking cautious steps forward he entered a narrow hallway lined with doors leading to smaller area's. He proceeded forward silently heading straight for the door at the end of the hallway, upon reaching it, this door was also shot and forced off. The question was why though, had someone tried to get in here to turn the power back on and if they did, were they still here or did they fail? The questions seemed to go through Kevin's head as he entered the main workshop room, flashing the light around Kevin stopped and peered at the console which controlled the main generator for the base.
"Uh Colonel we may have a bit of an issue with restoring power... it seems that someone shot apart the console and a portion of the generator itself."
Kevin looked at the console, it was riddled with large caliber bullet holes, there was no blood or sign of fight so this looked intentional more then anything else. None of this made any sense, why would someone take out the power so it couldn't be turned back on? There were more questions then answers it was becoming all too apparent as Kevin bent down and looked at the ground, he removed a shell off the floor and looked at it. This had come from a smartgun, the caliber was specialized hollow tipped, meant to do massive damage.
"It seems like this was intentional Colonel over."
Lee cursed to herself hearing the news about the shot console, why the hell would someone shoot out the console for? None of this made any damn sense, nothing was playing out like a regular Xeno attack it was too out there to be anything other then weird.
"Captain search for an auxiliary generator, it would not last as long as we like but we need to get the power on in here at any cost."
Lee gave the command as she bent down, she stood within the main control room for the marines operations, she was right in front of the console, the same console that Digger had been using before the power went out. Shining her flashlight around she saw blood on the floor and at the same time she saw a hole in the ground that was definitely caused by Xeno acid, a fight had happened in here. The shells on the ground were for a smartgun, they were specialized hollow tip shells, the kind that Digger was known for using, only ranking officers were allowed use of these shells given their ability to inflict massive damage. The sudden influx of power was surprising and blinding at the same time, the entire base suddenly came to new life as the screens popped on one by one in the main control room.
"Captain, great job."
"Errrr it wasn't me Colonel, the power just suddenly came back on. Don't even know how given the damage done down here."
Lee was about to reply when a scream echo from a nearby room, Lee was quick as she grabbed Edd and her remaining men and quickly ran down the hallway towards the scream.
"Baker, Ross, Grant, anyone where the hell did that come from?"
Lee spoke quickly into the headset with all speed she flew around the corner and quickly entered one of the rooms, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eye's widened at the site of Baker. He was on the ground and his head was twisted so far his eye's were pointed towards his own back. The sounds of footsteps canvassed the hall as in moments the entire team descended into the room. The men looked shocked as Lee to see Baker on the ground, it was obvious he was dead, but how, who, what could have done this? Lee moved forward silently and bent down to Baker, his entire head was twisted around, his neck snapped easily from a strong assailant. His eye's were bloodied around the cornea's, it seemed to be the one thing that stood out from the rest of the death.
"Ross what happened did you see anything?"
"No ma'am I was down the hall a ways securing another room, there was absolutely no movement on the radar, nothing that could have done this without being noticed. I was only gone for three minutes before I heard the scream."
Lee intended to say more but a loud devastating explosion ripped through the silence in the room, the building shook violently.
"What the fuck was that!?"
Lee yelled the question as Lieutenant Dedric switched to his sensor and looked around quickly.
"Oh no... no no no! Outside Colonel the dropship there is an entity moving out there!"
The entire team quickly fled the room and hit the front hallway, as they exited the building their eye's were meant with the horrifying sight of their dropship completely destroyed and in flames. Lee was silent as she fell to her knee's at the sight of their transport completely destroyed. How... who... what the hell was going on!? Lee looked up silently as she saw a body in the distance, slowly regaining her feet she strolled towards it. The body was the pilot of their ship, his was sprawled out, his arms and leg spread completely on each side, his clothing was ripped straight down the middle. Lee reached forward slowly and pulled the cloths apart to reveal a message that had been carved into the mans chest crudely.
"He was one of them"
