Author's Note: Parts of this chapter spawn from my studies of the Korean War, Vietnam, and the conflict in Somalia, so graphicly depicted in the movie "Black Hawk Down". Cliff has a horrible past, and the last marine isn't what some would define as normal, really. Also, I've been watching Aliens too much, as my incorporation of…well, you'll see soon enough!
Prey to a Hunter
Chapter IV:
The Marines
Incident+ 131 Hours. Fall 16th, Year 5
The shiny Black Hawk military helicopter circled twice over Rose Square before deploying a rope out of its side door. Harris had signaled the mainland military base after we had been taken back into town, and three days later the Marines had arrived. The black hawk proudly displayed the eagle, the classic symbol of the Marine Corps, on the open side door as the first marine slid down the rope. One after another, the seven marines, each wearing green fatigues with some kind of titanium breast plate strapped to their chests, hustled down the rope.
One by one, the Marines assembled in a long line. Four males and three females composed the squad of burly soldiers, and two more men slid down the rope. One was tall and angry looking, with a large cigar sticking out of his jaw. The other was dressed in black, and wore dark sunglasses. He looked like some kind of government agent. What was a government agent doing traveling with a squad of marines?
"Sound off!" the cigar marine shouted.
"Private Stacker, reporting for duty, SIR!" cried the first marine. He looked young, no older than I was. Bright brown eyes stared into the crowd. I knew that this Marine was too young to be serving in the military at all, much less fighting that…thing in the woods. A massive pack was slung across his shoulders, and the weapon he carried looked like no weapon I had ever seen before. It looked like some kind of advanced Thompson M1A1 weapon, based on the picture of Saibara wielding the weapon in his WWII Army picture. A small LCD ammunition counter adorned the side of the weapon, which was painted some kind of olive drab color. Something that looked like a shotgun or grenade launcher of some sort was attached to the underside of the weapon; it looked very deadly.
"SIR! Private Shiro, awaiting orders!" the Marine shouted. She looked about thirty, still young. She looked Japanese, but I really couldn't tell because of the sun glaring off of her helmet. Her weapon was the same as the one wielded by the first, and a massive, square, metallic object was strapped to her back. It looked like a radio or something. Her green eyes were cold, as if they had seen enough death to last a lifetime.
"Private Jenkins! Show me what'cha got!" the next marine boasted. This man was huge, easily a foot taller than even Zack. Bulging muscles supported a massive, elongated weapon. It looked like a long stick of shiny, pointy metal, nothing more. An eyepiece extended from the weapon's stock into the Marine's helmet visor, and as the weapon's safety clicked on, I realized that this marine was armed with pinnacle technology not even in service in the front lines. What the hell were we dealing with to warrant such experimental technology? I had read magazine articles about weapons such as this, calling them "Smartguns", with the ability to track moving targets and disregard those marked as "Friendlies" via the HUD on the Marine's helmet. What the hell was one of these mobile fire bases doing in Mineral Town?
"Private Takatura! Bring it on, SIR!" the second female Marine shouted. Wisps of red hair and bright blue eyes poked out from under her helmet, and I instantly saw Ann's face smiling at me from under the Marine's helmet. Ann obviously noticed the similarities as well, because her eyes widened in surprise and she tensed next to me. I groaned; my arm, bandaged in a sling, still stung badly. Ann smiled apologetically at me as the next marine sounded off;
"Private Larsen! I came here to do two things, SIR! Chew gum and kick ass! And I'm all out of gum!" I recognized the quote from some obscure book or movie I had seen long ago, but didn't remember which. The Marine wore a big tank of some sort on his back, and as I gazed at the tube connecting it to the Marine's weapon, I realized it was a flamethrower. That thing could torch all of Mineral Town! The Marine seemed indifferent to this, however, and playfully activated the primer flame for the weapon. In the flickering light, I could see the destruction of my beloved town. Ann saw me bristling with rage, and laid an arm on my shoulder.
"You've done what you could. Let's let these people do what they can do, and hope it's enough" she comforted me. I still angrily glared at the marine's weapon before a quiet voice behind me asked,
"Hey. Is this yours?"
It was Cliff, holding Charlie, our son. Ann smiled at him and took Charlie from his arms. Cliff had big, black bags under his eyes, and looked exhausted, but still managed to smile at me as I thanked him for watching Charlie for us.
"Was Charlie nice to you? He didn't keep you up all night, right?" I asked. I supposed I looked no better than Cliff did, with my arm in a sling and my hair awry. My traditional cap and rucksack were at home, next to the Remington 87 recovered by Harris during his patrol through the woods. I must have dropped it in my flight from the alien. I now kept a box of shells on hand. If that thing came near me again, I would be ready, ready with enough firepower to turn that little bastard into Swiss cheese.
The next Marine screamed;
"PRIVATE NICKSON, REPORTING FOR DUTY!" He looked like a new recruit, obviously fresh and ready to please. The weapon he carried looked bigger than he was. The boy didn't look any older than fourteen, and I was surprised to see the long "Smartgun" from before cradled in the boy's tiny arms. He staggered slightly under the weight of the huge weapon
The Marine sergeant smiled at the boy.
"I like you, son. Glad to have you along"
I arched an eyebrow. So this sergeant didn't even get to select his team? Apparently, both sides had been in the dark on this op. I was surprised. As I saw the agent standing in the background, silently observing the marines, I wondered what his purpose in this operation was. He impassively stared back at me through his dark sunglasses.
The last Marine stood at rigid attention. Her yellow, almost cat-like eyes surveyed us all with distrust and fear. Her fingers tightly gripped the handle of a futuristic looking assault rifle, and what looked like a big, green didgeridoo was strapped to her back. Her stance was almost cat-like in nature, and what little of her hair I could see through her helmet was short and looked almost like the fur of a cat.
The sergeant stopped when he saw her. Quietly, he leaned to her and whispered something. She shook her head, and the sergeant nodded. He turned to address his Marines.
"Alright, boys and girls! I know your commanders didn't have time to brief you before we left, because I sure as hell wasn't told I was getting assigned this motley crew!" he yelled, earning a grin from several of the Marines.
"Sir?" came the voice of the flamethrower marine, Larsen.
"What is it, Private?" the sergeant barked.
"What the hell are we doing in this shithole of a town?" he snickered.
I could almost feel the veins popping out of my forehead. Ann looked indignantly at the Marine; he glared contemptuously back.
"What we're here for is to check out some kind of disturbance. HQ wasn't very clear, but maybe these people could tell us what's going on" the sergeant said, motioning towards us. Thomas spoke first.
"Good afternoon…marines" he began, placing emphasis on the word "marines". The marines snorted at Thomas indifferently, and Thomas bristled.
"Jack here can tell the story better than I can. Go ahead, Jack!" he motioned, barely retaining his disgust of the Marines. Stepping forward angrily, I began,
"Listen up. I'll tell you all that I know. Four nights ago, as I was walking with a group of my friends down from the summit behind you, we were attacked by something. I'm not sure what it was. It devastated my farm, destroyed my crops, and killed my chickens! And on top of that, it took one of my best friends, Rick. We haven't found a body yet, but we're sure he's dead" I began.
-
"Shithole"
The Yautja warrior played back the human's voice and added it to his diolouge of human voices. Watching the brown-headed human speak in front of the human warriors, the warrior felt a sense of anger rush through him. He had caused him wounds that were still healing, and damaged the warrior's cloaking device. The device still worked, but for very short intervals of only about one klerton, which roughly translated as five human minutes. A blink of an eye for a warrior.
The Yautja considered jumping into the center of the human formation and attacking all of them, wiping them all out. But that wouldn't be sporting; the humans were unprepared, and unafraid in the presence of their warriors. Besides, picking the human warriors off one by one would be much more…sinister.
The Yautja snickered and activated it's cloaking device. One klerton was enough for the warrior to slip away, a rustling in the trees the only testament to it's existence.
-
The tree above me rustled slightly as I finished my story of the past week's events to the marines. They all had skeptical looks on their faces, except for the agent, who walked forward and asked, surprising everyone in the crowd with his monotonous voice,
"What was the creature like?
"It was big. Very big. I didn't see much of it, but those eyes…those horrible eyes…!" I exclaimed, shuddering at the memory of the yellow eyes boring into my soul. The last marine looked at me in surprise before staring down again. I could have sworn her eyes were glowing, but it was mid-afternoon, so it must be some kind of sun glare. Shaking my head, I listened to the marine sergeant struggle for words.
"Alright, everyone! We'll be staying at this town's Inn until this is all solved out". I flashed a look of pity towards Doug, who sighed and hung his head; the prospect of housing and cooking for these Marines wasn't exactly the best thing that could happen to a man, really. He gloomily stalked back off to the Inn.
As the Marines filed away, the last marine hesitated, looked me in the eye, and walked over to us. Ann questioningly stared at me, and I shrugged in response.
"You. Jack. You said the creature had a metal mask? And yellow, glowing eyes? Were they always glowing, or did they only flash yellow?" she asked. I nodded.
"They would flash quickly, only for periods of a second or two. And yes, there was a metal facemask on this thing. Why?" I asked, perplexed. She shook her head.
"Nothing. It's nothing. We'll do our best, sir" she said, turning briskly on the heel and leaving. I stared after her in confusion, and turned to leave.
"Bye, Cliff! Thanks for watching Charlie!" Ann called over her shoulder. Cliff, dragging his feet along, nodded, and hauled himself away to the Inn. I watched him go, sighed, and marched off with Ann towards our home.
-
Cliff sighed as he walked back towards his room at the Inn, hoping desperately that the Marines didn't get to it first. If they did…Cliff was in a world of hurt. He had a past with the Marine Corps…and it wasn't the prettiest.
Cliff stood at the edge of the devastated town of Somalia. It was over; the attack was over. His squad had won, for the time being. The bloody liars, claiming to be peacekeepers, were defeated. Cliff slung his weapon, a semi- automatic UZI submachine weapon, stolen from an armory to the southwest, over his shoulder and turned to leave.
Then she dashed out in front of him.
Cliff didn't want to remember any more. He didn't want to remember his days as a killer-for hire, a simple mercenary. All of that was behind him now. He would never kill again. That was the reason why Cliff was a frequent visitor to Carter's church; Cliff knew he could never be forgiven for the blood that stained his soul, but he could at least beg forgiveness from the souls he had ruthlessly slaughtered during the conflict in Somalia. Never again.
As Cliff marched into his room, he was surprised to see it empty. He half expected a squad of marines to be overwhelming the Inn. They weren't here yet; this gave Cliff his chance. He reached down into the floorboards and removed an old, dusty book and two long packages. Cliff grimaced when the first one fell open, to reveal a long, curved katana, complete with a sheath. He didn't want to remember anymore; the hilt and sheath were stained with brown blood stains, reminding Cliff of the many he had executed with the weapon. No.
"What are you doing?" came a voice from behind Cliff. Cliff jumped three feet in the air and scrambled to hide the katana; it was one of the Marines, and if she recognized the weapon as belonging to one of the Somalian fighters at the infamous military fiasco decades before…
"That's an impressive weapon. Where did you get it?" the marine asked. Cliff stammered for words.
"Umm…it's kind of a long story…heh…you see…" Cliff began. The Marine shrugged.
"It's nothing. My mother had told me stories…forget it" the Marine murmured. Cliff relaxed slightly; this Marine had not been at Somalia after all. He picked the sword back up and placed it back into it's long package.
"Do you have a room? I'll clear out if…" Cliff offered.
"I would appreciate that. The others have taken over all of the other rooms, and besides, I don't trust them" she said, surprising Cliff.
"What? Aren't you all from the same unit?" he asked in surprise. She shook her head.
"No. I was assigned to this mission and pulled from my original unit. Maybe because of my condition…?" she began, but instantly held a hand over her mouth, regretting what she had said. Cliff's curiosity was sparked.
"What do you mean? I don't mean to pry or anything…"
She looked around, as if expecting hordes of eavesdropping people to come rushing from all around to hear her secret. As she leaned closer to Cliff and opened her mouth to speak, a loud smashing noise and a scream emanated from downstairs. The Marine snapped her head up and rushed downstairs, swinging her rifle in a wide arc to cover the room. Cliff dropped his boxes and followed closely behind.
Manna stood, staring stock still, staring into the trees outside of the Inn. The Marines had all now arrived, and pointed their weapons this way and that. Duke was staring into the trees as well, looking incredulously at the same spot that Manna was gazing at. His eyebrow was arched, as if he didn't believe what he had seen.
"Duke! Manna! What happened?" Cliff yelled, rushing up to Manna first. She stared blankly at Cliff before she fainted. Cliff rushed forward to catch her, but Duke held up his hand.
"Don't…she'll be fine…I'll take her home…" he indistinctly growled, picking up Manna. Cliff noted that his eyes kept darting back to the trees. There was nothing there.