Making a Stand
Somewhere north of Pretoria, South Africa
June 12th, 2013
1140 Hours
It had begun to rain, if only at a steady pace. Above, dark grey ominous clouds loomed while droplets of water began to cascade down and splash upon the ground. The smell of moisture was thick in the air while lightning flashed overhead, followed by the occasional boom of thunder.
Vincent Matheson had been running through grassland and past the occasional cluster of trees for a while now, followed by Linda, Iris and Wikus. Iris carried the young prawn, Faith, with her as she ran. Somewhere behind the sounds of a helicopter could be heard, as well as those of incoming ground-based vehicles. It seemed that there were a lot of MNU people in pursuit of them and it was hard to tell whether or not they actually knew where the fugitives were and were simply searching, rather than pursuing.
It didn't matter. What Vincent did know was that he and the rest of this group would need to find somewhere to hide out until the heat on them died down. So far they were yet to find anywhere to hideout, instead being treated to a seemingly never-ending grassland landscape. Hills and rock formations poked up in the distance but there were no signs of any buildings.
Wikus didn't seem very pleased, angered pheromones seeping off of him as he ran. He seemed to be complaining about something, although Vincent wasn't really listening.
"I can't believe that shithead actually punched me," Wikus said, "I didn't think he had such a fucking death wish…"
Vincent could only think that Wikus was referring to Lukas Farber. The engineer had knocked out Wikus earlier, just so he could take the grenades and go and destroy the medical pod. It was generally agreed that Lukas was as good as dead and Iris, of all of them, seemed the most affected by this thought. She was quiet and withdrawn, perhaps pondering over all that had happened to them lately. After all, she was probably one of the most innocent of the group, as well as Linda. Those two had simply been dragged into it all almost by complete accident. Vincent could only feel guilty about having brought Linda into this mess but he was certain that they would survive it all, one way or another. Wikus, on the other hand, didn't seem so confident.
"What the fuck are we going to do?" He asked aloud and to no one in particular as they ran, "We've got the whole MNU Corporation on our arses…"
"We keep running," Vincent replied simply. Wikus seemed to give a rather annoyed frown when he heard this but regardless he didn't slow down, keeping in his place in the group as they pounded across the countryside. Where they were going, none of them knew. It just seemed to be safest to simply keep running and hope that MNU didn't catch up to them.
"Has anyone got a map?" Linda asked. The lack of a response was enough of an answer.
The group kept their pace up, running through the countryside as the rain started to fall. Vincent had been doing his best to ignore the continuous throbbing pain at his wounded leg but the more he ran the more it began to hurt until finally he had slowed down considerably, lagging to the rear of the group. He didn't want to appear weak to all of the others and so tried to keep running, regardless of the agonizing pain that was erupting from his wounded leg. No one seemed to notice him slow down, they were either too concentrated on their own problems or simply didn't care.
Vincent was practically exhausted from everything that had happened today. He had killed plenty of mercenaries, run a considerable distance and been shot at on numerous occasions. All he needed now was a rest and yet it seemed that getting such a thing would be nigh on impossible. Not only that but he was feeling quite hungry, another thing he doubted he would be able to rectify. Damn, he would have done anything for food…even for cat food, regardless of whatever effect it had on his system.
The others had started up a hill and Vincent slowly followed them along. Should they stop and rest? He wanted to and he supposed that everyone else would want to as well. Finally, upon arriving at the top of the hill he stopped and called for them to have a break. However, he was surprised to find that beyond the hill was a typical highway, one that winded its way across the countryside and went straight past an old looking church up ahead.
The church had seen better days, as did the run down houses near it. It was a typical size for a church, built of stone and mortar while several of its once colourful stained-glass windows had smashed. It seemed that the group had stumbled across a country neighbourhood that hadn't seen anyone living in it for some time. The exterior of the church was run down, with graffiti of all sorts covering the outer walls. There was a cemetery near it, one that was overgrown and littered with assorted refuse.
The group started towards the rundown neighbourhood, stopping by the side of a boarded up general store and under the shelter there in order to get out of the rain. The rain itself had begun to pick up its pace, falling gradually heavier as the minutes went by. There was a flash, followed by thunder seconds later. The sound of thunder seemed to shake the very ground beneath their feet and Vincent found himself suitably unnerved. The day had started off bright enough and now…now it had reduced into a typical storm.
"What do we do now, huh?" Wikus asked, breaking the silence that had fallen across the group, "We can't stay here. Those MNU pricks will be here any minute…"
"What do you suggest we do?" Vincent asked, turning his gaze to Wikus. The question was met by an uncertain look from the other prawn, one that more or less spelt out his answer.
"You don't have any ideas, do you?" Vincent said. Wikus was silent, preferring to take the time to think of an answer before admitting that he had no ideas.
Thunder rumbled again and the rain began to pour, slicking the tarmac of the roads and sending a moving stream of water flowing down the gutters. Vincent took the chance to take a careful examination of his wounded leg, slumping against the brick wall and putting his arc cannon on the ground before turning his gaze to the bandages around the lower part of his left leg. The bandages were covered with dirt and one was hanging loose, so it was at this loosened end that Vincent started to unravel them. He wasn't surprised to see that the bloodied wound underneath was both smelly and sticky; with blood congealing all over it while the exposed flesh beneath erupted in pain whenever he so much as touched it. He needed some medical attention otherwise this nasty leg wound would get infected. It probably already was infected and if it was he had no way of combating the infection. Satisfied that he had learnt all he could about the extent of this injury he rewrapped it in the dirtied bandages, wincing in pain as he pulled them tight.
"I do have an idea," Wikus said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the group.
"And what would that be?" Vincent asked doubtfully.
"We keep moving," Wikus replied, "What the fuck else can we do? Seriously, we're in a lot of fucking trouble. I can't think of anything else…"
"We make a stand here," Vincent said. He was serious about this and understandably the others shot him odd looks, as if they thought he was crazy.
"Why?" Linda asked, "If we keep running…"
"They'll find us eventually," Vincent replied, slowly rising to his feet, "so, we can run but it'll be pointless. Maybe we'll be able to make some distance but not before they start hemming us in. Besides, where can we go?"
No one had an answer to this. Vincent wasn't about to start running just so they could end up in a similar situation like this one again, just later on and somewhere else. They had nowhere to go, especially since they were all clearly wanted rather badly by MNU. What for was unknown. MNU probably just wanted some payback for all the trouble the group had caused.
"If we make a stand here there's a chance we'll be able to do some damage and lessen some of the heat," Vincent said, "And then we might be able to escape. I know it sounds like a stupid plan but I honestly can't come up with anything else, other than to run or to turn ourselves in. And honestly, I have no fucking intention of turning myself in. How about everyone else? Anyone here want to turn themselves over to MNU?"
Again, there was no answer. Iris was looking down while Faith chirped worriedly. Wikus shuffled uneasily where he stood, trying to think of something while Linda gazed further down the road, as if expecting the MNU goons to start arriving at any moment.
"In other words, you think there's no hope for us?" Iris asked suddenly, looking towards Vincent.
Vincent shrugged. He didn't necessarily think that but he was quite close to thinking it, especially since he could not come up with anywhere they could possibly go. Maybe they might have had a chance if they could get to District 9 but how far away was that? It must have been over a hundred kilometres away, requiring them to cross more open countryside. They couldn't manage that, even if they tried. They had no food, no water and Vincent doubted if he would be able to walk even a fifth of that distance on his wounded leg.
"I didn't say that," Vincent said after a moment's thought on the matter, "I was just stating what I thought was the best course of action. If you guys don't agree, you can just keep running. I'll stay here; maybe I'll be able to hold them off long enough for you all to make some good distance."
"You'd get yourself fucking killed over this?" Wikus asked, incredulous to what Vincent was suggesting.
Vincent shrugged again. He was exhausted…it was best they just hold up here rather than press on in some vain attempt to get away from MNU. The fact of the matter was, there was no getting away from MNU. MNU was a global corporation and they were effectively everywhere. Even if Iris and the others made it out of South Africa a simple change of country would not prevent MNU from continuing to pursue them.
"I'm willing to do what's best for the group," Vincent said, "And if that means getting myself killed…well, I can live with that. I mean, I won't be able to if I die…but…you know what I mean…" He trailed off, trying to work out the best way of getting his point across.
Linda gazed at him, almost aghast at what she was hearing.
"You can't be serious, Vincent," she said simply, unsure of what else to say.
"And what do you suggest we do, Linda?" Vincent asked, "Keep running so we can wear ourselves out and get caught later on? I guess that's not so bad for you, seeing as you're human and all…but for me and everyone else in this group, getting caught by MNU isn't going to be a good thing. They'll dissect us, experiment on us. For you, they'll just hand you over to whatever human authority is interested in you and you'll probably be thrown in a jail cell. So, maybe you can afford to get caught…but I can't. I don't want to end up some sort of MNU experiment and neither does Iris, or Wikus or even Faith for that matter." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in.
"So, what exactly is our plan going to be?" Wikus asked, stepping forwards, "I personally think we should just keep running. If Vincent wants to stay here and get killed, that's his problem. Not mine."
"You're a selfish bastard," Linda said, rather bluntly. Wikus was completely unfazed by this particular remark, having received similar insults in the past.
"Life's tough," Wikus said, "I learnt that the hard way. If Vincent wants to stay behind and play hero…"
"I'm staying," Iris interrupted. Wikus gave a look of surprise but this look quickly disappeared, replaced by something slightly more neutral.
"I'll stay as well," Linda said simply. Isolated, Wikus simply shrugged and went to turn around and walk away.
"Fine, you three get killed," Wikus said as he started walking, "I, on the other hand, will still be alive to see the next day. Oh, and one other thing…"
He stopped and turned around. He was about to say something when a familiar voice shouted from nearby. The group shifted their gaze towards the hill nearby. All of them were rather surprised to see Lukas racing down it, a bulky black prawn weapon held in his hands (or, one hand and one claw to be more precise).
"They're coming!" He shouted as he neared. He stopped a short distance away and the faint chop-chop of an approaching helicopter could be heard.
Vincent recognized the weapon Lukas was carrying as the one Wikus had given to him before he had left the resistance. What he was doing with that, he had no clue.
"What the fuck?" Wikus said with incredulity, "You're still alive?" He paused, remembering something rather important. "You fucking punched me, you bastard!"
Lukas took a moment to gather his breath. The sound of the approaching helicopter began to increase as it came closer. Vincent tightened his grip on his arc cannon, thinking that trouble was on the way. How right he was.
"Lukas…" Iris said simply, just as surprised as everyone else. Faith chirped happily at seeing the hybrid, even if he did look a little worse for wear.
"Did you destroy the pod?" Vincent asked. He knew that this had been why Lukas had punched out Wikus: apparently Wikus hadn't been too keen on relying on him to destroy the medical pod, so Lukas had taken matters into his own hands by knocking out the prawn and taking the grenades in order to destroy it himself.
"Yeah," Lukas said, still somewhat short of breath, "but there's no time to talk. There's a helicopter on its way here and a whole bunch of MNU goons as well…"
"And you lead them to us," Wikus said harshly.
"Fuck you, Wikus," Lukas replied, "You've never anything good to say. You're such a jerk-ass."
"And you're a complete moron," Wikus replied, "Since now you've lead those MNU pricks straight here…"
"They were already on their way here," Lukas interrupted, having had quite enough of Wikus' attitude, "I've just lead the helicopter here. They were going to get here, regardless of what I or any of us did." He paused and took a look around, surveying their surroundings with a discerning eye. There wasn't much to work with, but his gaze did fall upon the church.
"Our best chance is with the church," Lukas stated. Rising over the hill was the helicopter and with it, Frans Jochem leaned from the side and began to open fire with his automatic rifle.
Immediately the group scattered, spreading out but starting on their way to the church. Bullets pounded the tarmac near Vincent's feet as he sprinted for the building, falling over as his wounded leg erupted into intense pain. He squealed in a rather pitiful manner and immediately hated himself for it: it was a display of weakness. He did not want to appear weak in front of the others.
He turned around and watched as the helicopter hovered over the tops of the buildings behind him. There was a human taking careful aim with some sort of large rifle. It was hard to tell whether he was taking aim towards him or at someone else.
Vincent saw that his arc cannon had fallen from his grip during the tumble he had taken. Ahead he could see Linda racing back to help him up. He shook his head, yelling at her to keep moving for the cover of the church ahead.
That was when there was a faint crack! It was perhaps from a suppressed rifle of some sort for the noise was certainly less in volume than an ordinary rifle. The noise echoed throughout the open air, the falling rain amplifying its sound. Linda had been running towards him at that moment and now Vincent watched, eyes wide as a cloud of blood erupted forth from her chest. She tumbled and fell mere metres ahead of him, her rifle clattering along the pavement. Blood seeped out of her chest wound while Linda herself managed one last, weak tilt of her head. Her eyes remained open and glassy and one arm reached out to Vincent before falling still.
Struck with overwhelming despair Vincent fought to stand up. To his right about three MNU APCs had started to pull up, groups of armed MNU mercenaries flowing out of them. For the first time in his life since he had witnessed his father's death Vincent had begun to weep. He yelled out in pain as his wounded leg erupted into agony as he rose to his feet but still he pressed forwards, falling to his knees by Linda's body and holding it in her claws. There was no sign of life in her, her eyes open and lifeless. Blood stained the front of her shirt and dribbled onto Vincent. The only thing the prawn could do was kneel and watch her for a very long time, alien tears dripping from his golden-yellow eyes. The pain in his leg was nothing compared to the inner agony he was feeling, the agony of witnessing the one he loved die in such an abrupt and unexpected manner. He should have protected her, he should have known that this might happen…And yet she had died trying to help him up, having not quite made it to him before the fatal bullet struck her in the heart.
Vincent used one claw to carefully close her eyes. He looked up, his gaze narrowed as he took in the sight of the helicopter. He lowered Linda's body onto the rain slicked road and rose to his feet. Again his wounded leg seemed to scream at him to stop putting weight on it. Unsteadily he started walking for his fallen arc cannon, completely ignorant of the fact that there were at least two dozen mercenaries now at the far end of the street. They didn't matter to him, not now. He no longer cared about anything other than enacting vengeance on those who had killed Linda.
Up in the helicopter, Colonel Francis Keller watched impassively all that occurred on the ground below. Lukas, Wikus and Iris (along with the smaller prawn that she was carrying) had begun to race for the church, jumping the fence around its perimeter. Hermes Kossel, expert marksman, was seated near the Colonel and had just finished delivering a precision shot with his suppressed Tango-51 rifle. Linda Cooper had been gunned down and all Keller could utter was a satisfied grunt.
Frans Jochem was busy reloading his CR21 rifle while Marinus Venter sat nearby, rifle in his lap and straight expression on his face.
Keller was contemplating what to do with Lukas. Should he kill him? He would certainly feel very satisfied if he did. Then again, such an act would deny Keller his bulky pay-check. His superiors wanted Lukas alive, not dead. They could determine more from his transformation if he was still breathing and not a cold corpse.
Keller patted Hermes on the shoulder whilst watching as the APCs pulled up at one end of the small neighbourhood. Two dozen MNU mercenaries, all of them armed and decently trained, began to storm out of the vehicles. They would surround the church and Keller and Marinus would move in, probably with some of the mercenaries. They would attempt to apprehend both Wikus and Lukas as well as kill Iris and that irritating young prawn that hung around with the group of fugitives.
"Nice shot," Keller said, blowing on his cigar, "Now finish the other one and we can set this chopper down."
Hermes simply nodded, taking aim at Vincent Matheson who had somewhat stupidly stood up in the middle of the road. He would be an easy target for a marksman such as Hermes Kossel, Keller was confident about this.
Outside, it continued to rain. The day had suddenly turned into a rather miserable one weather-wise, as if God himself wasn't too pleased with the events that were transpiring here.
Oh well, Keller thought absently, God can't approve of everything. He's a fussy guy, that God fellah.
Vincent stepped over to where the arc cannon lay, bending over to pick it up. He was neither full of rage or despair…instead, there was something else he could feel. He was completely controlled and somewhat at ease with himself and everything around him. All he could feel was…tranquility. Absolute tranquility. Complete and utter serenity. Yes, that was it…complete serenity.
The rifle that Hermes Kossel held fired again. A burning pain erupted at Vincent's jaw, one that seemed to bore right into his very being. Dazed and confused he feel to his knees, howling in agony as thick black blood flowed freely from his mouth. Putting one claw there he could feel that a hole had been blown straight through his jaw, leaving gaping wounds at either side of his face. Blood dripped from it in rather copious amounts while agony seemed to take up his whole head and bore right into his very being. The feelers that had hung over his mouth were gone, leaving him feeling rather…strange. For some reason he was finding it hard to focus on anything in particular.
With his right claw he felt along the rain slicked tarmac, taking a moment or two to get a grip on his arc cannon. Taking a deep breath, something which was rather difficult for him now, he raised the weapon and pointed it towards the helicopter.
The helicopter had turned sideways so that Hermes had a better shot at him through the side. He could see the humans seated inside, including the one known as "Keller". However, his aim went straight to Hermes as he knew that it had been this human who had killed Linda.
Hermes didn't seem at all concerned with Vincent's weapon wielding and instead fired another shot with his Tango 51 rifle. This one struck Vincent in the chest, sending another almost unbearable pain flowing through him. Vincent stumbled and fired at the same time, the arc of blue-white energy slamming into the human seated near Hermes. Frans Jochem exploded all over the interior of the helicopter, covering the other occupants and causing the pilot's concentration to momentarily lapse. The helicopter wavered slightly where it hovered before it began to ascend in order to get out of Vincent's line of fire.
Vincent tried to breathe but found this difficult, as if the air was leaving him through the wrong hole. His strength had all but gone and his vision had blurred, but even so he adjusted his aim at the helicopter and fired his arc cannon once more. With a satisfying splatter Hermes Kossel exploded, literally painting the inside of the helicopter red. Again the pilot's concentration lapsed as blood covered the entire front window, obscuring the outside view.
To his left, several of the mercenaries had started to charge towards him. Vincent shifted his aim towards these oncoming foes, firing recklessly as they approached. He blew away two of them before the others opened fire, several rifle rounds tearing through him. The pain was almost too much: bullets pounded through his exoskeleton with ease, one of them blowing through his neck while numerous others put holes in his stomach and chest. He collapsed into a pool of his own black blood, gargling loudly and riddled with bullet holes. The mercenaries continued to fire into his corpse as they approached in order to make sure he was dead, a few rifle rounds blasting away part of the prawn's head. Vincent was dead seconds later.
Keller wiped the blood away from his face, noticing Marinus' rather repulsed grimace as he did the same. The whole inside of the helicopter was more or less covered in blood and wet bits of what had once been Frans Jochem and Hermes Kossel. Keller and Marinus were covered in it and reeked of the stuff while the pilot struggled to make out anything through the blood that was all over the front canopy.
Keller composed himself, this incident furthering his determination to get Lukas. Dead or alive, it didn't matter: he would carry out whatever option was more convenient. He pulled out his Automag .44 pistol, checked the magazine within the weapon before sliding it back in. He turned to the pilot, yelling at the startled man.
"Take us down!" Keller shouted, spitting out blood that wasn't his as he spoke.
The pilot nodded, somewhat grateful for the order and so began to send the helicopter into a gradual descent. Keller looked outside and towards the church, catching a glimpse of Lukas as he ran up the front steps and through the battered front wooden doors of the structure. Iris and Wikus were already inside by the looks of it. Now doubt those three would cause as much trouble as possible.
The helicopter touched down and so, trying to ignore the blood that covered almost every part of his uniform save for his back (which had not been turned to either Frans' or Hermes' direction at the times of their demises), Keller stepped out of the helicopter and onto solid ground. Marinus followed while up ahead several mercenaries cut down Vincent Matheson. At least, they had already cut him down: now they were ruthlessly firing into his corpse to ensure that he stayed dead. There wasn't much left of poor old Vincent save for a black bloody heap that vaguely resembled a prawn.
The rain began to pour down harder, rinsing some of the blood out of Keller's hair as he started towards the church. He kept on walking while Marinus followed, the pair heading on towards the church. The other mercenaries had begun to set up a perimeter around the structure. The front doors had been closed and presumably barricaded by the fugitives within. Keller merely assumed that he could find another way in.
With his pistol gripped in his right hand, Keller walked towards the front of the church with an aura of complete confidence. He knew that whatever happened it would shape the rest of his career. After all, he really wanted that bulky pay-check for hauling in Lukas. Hauling in Wikus wouldn't score him too much so he guessed he could just kill that prick of a prawn.
Unsurprisingly, the door was not barricaded. In fact, Keller easily pushed open one of the double doors, revealing the run-down and dimly lit interior beyond. A dank, musty smell hit his nostrils while doves cooed innocently up in the rafters.
"Marinus," Keller said, glancing back at the Captain who stood a short distance behind him, "Watch my back, would you?"