Chapter 2

I could barely stay standing while the Trilobite flew down towards the surface of Tandiko. Rocketing down towards the planet the ship was more falling than flying. Another patch of turbulence sent me swaying back and forth and I was forced to hold onto supports less I want to be sent tumbling towards the rear of the craft. Although the ship was heavily armored and could withstand a hellish beating, there was no love lost for those who rode in the compartment when it came to comfort. The ship was designed around the concept of entering and exiting the atmosphere and was barely sporting even wings for the most part. It was pure thrust that lifted the heavy ship off the ground. A marvel in a way, considering the amount of power the ship could put out with such a small engine. The mag-jets as they were called were like miniature jet engines that put out three times as much thrust as the most powerful helicopter rotor, and the Trilobite had four of them. It had taken decades to perfect apparently, but the craft they built was undeniably worth it.

"Sir?" a soldier spoke up. He was a younger man, a private likely though it was too dark to see in the Trilobite.

"What is it?" I replied without even a glance.

"Do you know what we're going up against?"

For the first time since leaving the Cry Havoc I spared a gaze around the interior of the ship. Everyone else in the craft now had their eyes locked on me, dozens of reflective bulbs of light all throughout the Trilobite stared back at me. There was nothing I could tell the men that would have helped ease their nerves as I could find nothing to ease my own.

"No. I do not," I turned my gaze back to the metal flap before me.

"You said something about aliens on the ship," the private continued to pry.

I looked back at the boy, "what's your name?"

"Hackworth, sir," he replied, "Private Benjamin Hackwo-"

I cut him off, "do yourself a favor and don't think too much, Hackworth. You'll be better off that way."

I hated to be so rough, but feelings weren't important at a time like this. And if Hackworth kept his questioning up there would be almost no morale left in the group by the time we landed. It was better to stamp out any curiosity the men had now. There was no telling what they'd encounter on the surface so any attempts at guessing just made the anxiety all that much worse.

"Get ready boys. ETA in five," the pilot's flooded in over the ship's onboard intercom.

"You heard him! Rifles ready, safeties off. Be ready for anything!" I barked loud to the marines.

I pulled back the adapted stock and stuffed the butt of the rifle into my shoulder. The 7.6 millimeter anti-personnel round could tear open an exposed human torso like a can opener. Nothing could take a sustained barrage of the rounds for more than three seconds without being little more than a shattered skeletal form with mutilated flesh clinging to the bones. Despite the brutality of those thoughts, it was reassuring to know I had the best assault weapon in the galaxy clutched in my hands. I could only hope it would be enough.

Shortly after the pilot's announcement the Trilobite began shaking even more violently as it approached the ground and the flaps running the length of the craft began to lift. Dust billowed up into the craft forcing me to shield my eyes with one hand. Blinking profusely and nearly blind, I stepped out onto the sun parched soil. Before noticing anything else I felt the heat of the sun. While it might have been October on Earth (though it mattered little considering the whole planet was now a nuclear waste) it must have been summer for Tandiko. Not even a minute on the planet and already sweat was beading down my neck from the heavy gear I wore.

After a few long steps I had put the dust cloud mostly behind me and I gazed around the surface of the planet. Much of the area had been reverted to a farming community. Waist high crops sprung up from the ground as far as the eye could see. The only notable feature visible was a large town at the opposite end of the field. It was likely a half a mile between the Landing Zone and the town. White barns rose up from the ground like massive bars of soap, as there was little else you could compare the shapes to. There were scattered silver silos among the barns with a large granary and processing plant a few hundred beyond that. The facility looked extremely out of place in the rolling plains and distant forests, the plant standing a few stories taller than any of the other buildings. I looked at it for a few seconds before turning to my squad. If I were hiding in the area, I'd use that plant as my base of operations.

"Everyone get your asses moving across this field. I want to get a foothold in that settlement. We might have company so be ready at any moment," I ordered before gazing back over the squad.

"Yes sir!" my squad replied in unison.

The roar of our craft's engines died as it rose into the sky. Soon the sound was replaced by the clack of armor on armor and crops being pushed aside. Looking up to watch our craft ascend, I noticed several other silver specks falling down towards the area. All around the town and beyond I nodded in approval before pulling my rifle against my chest and set off to jogging through the tall crops. It was similar to corn, possibly just a young plant as there were no evident buds or seeds and it only just brushed your elbows as you walked. Looking down I watched as the once crystalline-silver armor plating was now a dull sage with brighter green lines and browns flickering all throughout. From a distance it was likely much more convincing but even up close the leaves and color were realistic to an extent. I wasn't invisible by any means, but I could have essentially disappeared had the crops been taller.

"This place is really quiet. Where did everyone go?" one of the marines spoke up.

"Maybe they're hiding," I heard Hackworth answer.

"Or dead," said another grimly.

It didn't take long to traverse the field; five minutes at most considering we had to push our way through the tall crops. The silence was eerie. Even the sound of armored men and women pushing their way through the field was muffled by the silence. So quiet it was deafening. There was a crunch of dead plants under my boot, but I couldn't hear it. There was a creaking noise from a breeze of wind picking up on the older buildings doors and windows, but I couldn't hear it. Not until I heard a low rumble in the distance did I finally become aware of these sounds.

"Sir…" one of the men called over the radio. Fear plagued his voice.

"What is it?" I snapped back quickly.

It took a moment for the man to reply, as if he were trying to put what he saw into words, "w-we found the citizens."

"Where?!"

Silence. I wasn't sure if they had encountered an enemy or if the civilians were proving difficult, but I couldn't wait. Assuming they had been in the settlement somewhere I started into a jog towards the structures. Machine sheds rose up all around with smaller electrical sheds and other conduits for monitoring the automated equipment. But considering the vast size of the farm, it likely took several dozen people to run all the tractors and machinery. And after passing by several rows of opaque white barns I could see a large group gathered around a shed. None of them seemed to be looking inside, a few were huddled around another with their backs turned.

"Over here, sir!" a man called. He was standing outside a small storage shed that was clearly showing evidence of having been broken into.

"What's the situation? Are the civilians alive?" I asked in near exasperation as I neared the shed.

"Look for yourself," he muttered with foreboding and stepped away from the door.

My brow rose, but I could start to smell something foul from within the small ovular shed. I was slow to reach for the door and pulled the handle with great trepidation. I had to applaud the soldier for identifying the scene as the civilians. The entire inside of the shed was painted with blood, shredded organs, sundered flesh, and shattered bone. Gore even dripped from the ceiling and lights, painting the room in a red glow. Scattered across the floor was crushed corpses. Bones, intestines, shredded skin, and gobs of mulched flesh and blood covered nearly every inch of the ground. I couldn't move inside without stepping on 'someone' or having red matter drip onto me from above. Even my armor turned red just from the sheer amount of it in the shack and I only stood in the doorway.

Turning back outside I held back the urge to vomit as much as long as possible. That turned out to be only a few seconds, and the breakfast I never ate was now splattered against the dull green grass. Not long after I released my stomach contents more and more reports of finding caches of mutilated corpses began springing up. It started off at only a few but by the end of the hour I counted at least twenty confirmed dead in seven separate locations. The town records stated there were only eighteen people living in this settlement. I assumed that whatever happened must have attracted nearby people and they met the same fate. Then again, it wasn't exactly easy to identify the civilians in the first place so they could have just miscounted. At this point in time I thought nothing could surprise me.

After sealing off the rooms that contained the horrific sight, I radioed to have the local populace as deceased via the OBG records. As I walked past one of the recently sealed off storage sheds something lodged into the side of the structure caught my eye. Buildings were mostly pre-constructed (as was the case with most of the farm) or assembled via massive 3D printers (typically reserved for cities). In this case it was pre-built and thus was coated in a white plastic-like shell that provided unrivaled protection from the elements and erosion as well as being nonconductive. Great for buildings exposed to dirt and the elements on a regular basis, it was far too expensive and illogical for taller and more compact structures. This also made any damage done to the siding very noticeable as it had a tendency to crack and break into dull shards of lightweight recyclable waste. Most of the wall of the gore filled shack had been shattered and a large black spot was obvious in the center. Upon investigation, a massive glob of glassy material was practically welded to the metal supports of the structure.

"Oh shit. What the hell is that?" Hackworth asked over my shoulder.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," I responded.

I pulled my six inch combat knife from its sheath at my belt. With a loud DING the tip collided against the metal support of the shack, and I attempted to pry whatever it was that had adhered itself to the steel structure. The blade scratched the surface of the amorphous blob of glass before wedging itself under the edge of the strange globule. I pried at the glassy shape for a moment, grunting as it cracked and fell from the siding of the shed. It fell into the grass, leaving several pieces of cracked glass still wedged into the metal support.

"What the…?" I cut short of finishing, never really being a fan of profanity.

In the center of the glass shape was a heavy lead or similar metal orb, with the glass likely having been formed around it. There was no explaining it. Nothing like this had ever been seen or heard of before anywhere. Looking over my shoulder at the marines that had gathered around me, I could only shrug. Puzzled looks washed over the group as everyone was equally as dumbstruck as I.

"Holy shit! We have a contact!"

The sudden outburst caused me to snap my head around and yell into my headset, "report!"

"I-I just saw something sir. It was b-big! F-Fu-Fucking huge!" the speaker replied shakily.

"Is there anything like that in the planetary records?"

"Negative. We only have small mammals and reptiles. Nothing bigger than a man," a marine from my group replied.

"Oh shit there it is a…" the man started when the radio went silent.

There was nothing for a moment before three loud explosions could be heard and soon after the stutter and crack of automatic weapons sounded out on the other side of the farming settlement. Several more explosions were heard and then nothing. In a matter of seconds, it had died out already. Something horrible was happening to those men and it was likely headed towards us next. Without any other options, I tried to signal to the Cry Havoc, but was greeted with nothing but static. Communications to and from the planet were cut off. Just like with Crucible.

"Safeties off, eyes open! We have confirmed sight of contacts," I barked to the squad behind me and into my headset. I didn't know if anyone could hear me but I hoped against hope they could.

With the dozen or so men behind me I broke into a quick jog. Pulling the Enforcer rifle from my chest and up to my eyes I slid my finger up to the safety and clicked it off. I had no idea what to expect. The men were killed before they could even describe the enemy. All I knew is one thing, it was big. At least we weren't going to miss it.

I jogged into the depths of the processing plant that dominated the landscape. Large metal cylinders sprouted up from the ground around me. I imagined they were filled with grains of some sort for storage. Ahead of me was a larger facility where grain was likely processed and preservatives were added so they could be shipped off world or to one of the cities elsewhere on the planet. Overhead, various catwalks connected the large silos, hardly wide enough for a man to traverse. I considered sending a man up to scan the area but decided to call for back-up first.

"This is Major Gregory. Anyone else in the processing plant area, respond. I need some backup here," I almost whispered into my helmet.

I didn't want to gain too much attention by making any noise in case the enemy was somehow hiding behind one of the large cylinders. After all they were quite massive and could hide several men from view if need be. Even if these things were as large as

"Sir," a distinctly male voice finally responded, "this is Sergeant Hill. I've got a small squad moving in from the northwest. Is that you I see?"

I turned to see a group of seven or so armored humans moving in towards me. I took a knee and waved them over to my position. The Sergeant turned and said something inaudible to his following before the group began spreading out and moving towards me. At first I wondered if Seargeant Hill were the contact, simply because of the size of the man.

"What's the situation?" Hill asked as he approached.

He was almost the stereotypical gruff sergeant character you might see in movies. He had a grizzled face that was marred with pockmarks from combat, rough beard, large burly figure, and a deep booming voice to wrap all his features up in a neat little bow more or less. It was likely he had undergone extensive gene-therapy considering the sheer size of the man. The Enforcer in his hands seemed almost like a toy, his large hands encasing the rifle. I wouldn't doubt if he could kill a man just by closing a fist around his head.

"Unknown contacts with an unknown number somewhere in this facility," I answered.

"So we're up shit creek without a paddle?" Hill replied with a snigger.

That was one way to put it. I let out a groan and pushed off my knee to stand at my full height. I wasn't short by any means, standing at a solid six foot even. Like most of my features, I was average in height as well. But Hill was a monster of a man. He easily was six inches taller than me and almost twice my girth. It was comforting to have such an intimidating man at my side when going into an awfully FUBAR situation like this one.

"Alright everyone," Hill barked at his squad. He was louder than I had hoped to be at the moment, "we're moving into the structure. Stay sharp, we dunno know what's out there."

I wished he hadn't said anything. Being a firm believer in jinxes and other nonsensical bullshit like that, I was confident that his last sentence caused whatever it was that appeared to appear. At first I wasn't even sure what it was or if it were even alive. All I knew is that the size of the man next to me wasn't even the slightest bit comforting anymore. Emerging from its cover behind a grain silo… something revealed itself to us. At first its large brown and twisted hand wrapped around the edge of the cylinder before the rest of the creature followed. It was definitely big, just as described. There was a definitely humanoid shape somewhere in the alien's form but it was definitely not human by any means. The body of the, thing, stood at least eight if not nine feet, but even taller were the strange growths that sprouted up from its back, torso, shoulders, and neck. Now I use the words "growths" and "sprouted" for a reason, because the appendages actually looked like the branches of a plant. In fact, the entire creature seemed to be infected with bark, branches, and leaves. Where it could have likely been flesh and bone at one point, the alien creature was now covered in a brown bark-like substance. Or at least it looked like bark from where I stood. To be honest, it was as if a tree had taken root inside some other living thing and had now completely overgrown the other life form.

"What…what is that?" Hackworth stuttered from behind me.

I couldn't speak as my entire body was frozen in fear and it seemed like everyone else was in the same boat. The creature stopped as it partially the corner it had emerged from. For what felt like hours there was a standoff between us and the beast. Neither side moved an inch as they stared each other down. Green orbs glowed back at me from within the shadows of the beast's form, what I could only imagine was the creature's eyes. Groaning, the being stepped out into the open, wind catching the leaves and branches that shot up from its back as it moved. I couldn't help but stare at the leaves that grew from the twisting limbs. They were a vibrant almost neon green and had a typical teardrop shape. Growing all over the creature's body, they were trimmed or broken away on the arms and legs with most of the growth on the chest and back of the beast. Each step it took caused the branches to swoop and stagger, though strangely they did little to hinder the movement of their host.

"I-Is… Is that a t-tree?"

I heard the words though there was no way I would look to see who spoke them. There was nothing that could have broken my gaze from the creature that now started approaching us. Each step it took left scars in the grass, tearing the soft sod up with long gnarly roots that grew from the toes and ankles of the creature. Before I could react, it was now storming across the open ground towards my squad. It was going to attack.

"Open fire!" Hill roared.

Before anyone could level their rifles at the beast it brandished a glowing red, block shaped device, clutched in the vine-like tendrils of its right arm. Flashes emitted from the front of the blocky apparatus and the same deafening bangs from earlier filling the air. I fell down to my knee and took aim with my rifle when I noticed the top of the weapon was splattered with fresh blood. Then I noticed it was on my arms and shoulder as well. I glanced to my left hoping to see the comforting form of my subordinate, Sergeant Hill, but he wasn't there. In his place stood a pair of bloody legs with a ragged hunk of flesh holding them together. Scattered across the grass behind me was the remains of Hill's torso, his head and shoulders still in one piece though his chest and abdomen had been ripped in half by two of the projectiles fired by the alien's weapon. I could only imagine it had been the same glassy orbs that I had found fused to supports of the gore-shack earlier. Organs and blood painted the ground in a tapestry of gore and I felt my stomach churn in disgust. I held back the urge to vomit but failed again and I wretched over as I added my own body fluids to those already pooling around my feet.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" someone yelled as the group scattered for cover or hit the ground.

Assault rifles barked and stuttered, painting the creature with rounds. Yet, rather than tear its arms off with gunfire the bullets just lodged into the skin causing thick amber tar to ooze from the wounds. It was like actually trying to cut a tree down with gunfire. You just couldn't put enough rounds into it. While the first barrage of rounds seemed to aggravate the creature, forcing it to stagger and shield its face with its thick arms, they did little more than that. Several leaves were ripped from their branches but there was little damage done to the actual body of the alien. Now the monster was not only hostile, but also pissed. Continuing its advance, it fired several more times and the ground was soon littered with more mangled corpses.

"Everyone take cover!" I hollered as I desperately scanned over my group.

More than half were already dead, torn to shreds and reduced to red smears from the alien's strange weapon. I spotted a young private desperately trying to fight off his attacker and immediately recognized it as Hackworth. He was still standing in the center of the area but wasn't there for long as another trio of bangs sounded off. One of the rounds must have missed but the other too struck home and soon he was sent staggering back and then thrown completely off his feet, spiraling through the air like a rag-doll. Hackworth's right arm was sent spinning off in a mist of red as he landed on the ground, his torso held together by the remains of his armor while his organs left a trail from the spot he stood a second earlier. I knew it wouldn't be long before the beast turned its attention to me and I met the same fate. Jumping to my feet I stumbled while breaking into a sprint towards the nearest grain storage silo. Our enemy spotted me and opened fire. Plumes of dirt shot up around me as the enormous glassy rounds tore into the earth. Every shot caused my heart to jump and sweat bead down my face faster but I was miraculously unharmed. I almost dove into cover behind the silo as two more shots hit the metal cylinder.

"This is Major Allan Gregory," I coughed into my helmet, "I've made contact with an aggressive alien species. Please, if anyone can hear me, respond! I lost my whole squad down here!"

Peeking out from cover I leveled my rifle and looked for the alien. That was surprisingly hard considering the size of the beast. Then something smashed into the metal inches above my head and slashed open the silo. Grain poured down onto my head as I took a few seconds to register what had just happened. The monster was surprisingly agile and had already flanked around the other side of the silo. It had smashed the side of its arm into the silo, attempting to behead me though I had managed to duck just in time. Luck seemed to favor me today as I hadn't even realized the alien was there.

The beast's arm was lodged deep into the steel of the silo, a testament to alien's strength considering my rifle could barely penetrate the metal. For a brief second I got a good look at the alien. Its body seemed to have been infected with the plant growth as it welled up from cracks in the timber-like skin. Tendrils and vines that were comparable to roots wove in and out of the beasts flesh, especially near the hands and feet. Before I could gawk any longer it groaned in what I could surmise as rage, and I rolled away from the immediate reach of the beast. It broke free just in time to be greeted by a hail of gunfire as I held the trigger of my rifle and poured lead into the alien's exposed belly and chest. Wooden skin cracked and splintered as more and more amber sap oozed from the wounds. Now roaring despite any evidence of a mouth, the beast raised its arms over its head to prepare a double fisted smash down on my body.

"Major, get down!" yelled a female voice from behind me.

I was pushed to the side, falling to the ground in horror as I stared up at my would be assailant. The tree monster howled at me as it was now confronted with two humans. It was then knocked back as a shotgun slug hit it in the exposed chest. Thick sappy blood exploded from the wound and another slug hit in square in the head. The bark around its skull exploded and orange goo splattered the area as chunks of wood-like flesh were sent flying in every direction, including onto me. I was panting heavily, still in shock from the near death experience. For a second I was unsure of what had just happened when a small hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to my feet. I looked back at the figure that had just saved my life only she wasn't there anymore.

The woman screamed as finger-like vines wrapped around her head and lifted her off the ground. She howled and kicked violently, but to no avail. The nine foot monster holding her only growled in annoyance before pressing the strange weapon it was holding against her spine. Two hardly muffled explosions nearly shattered my eardrums as her body was torn in half by the shots. Organs and bone matter dropped down onto my chest and head, causing my entire armor to turn red from the sheer amount of blood. The tree creature tossed the destroyed woman's corpse aside and it hit the silo with a sickly wet smack. It stuck to the side of the building for a moment and slowly slid down, a trail of red tracing its path.

A collection of groans emanated from the beast before me, almost as if it were laughing. I backed away as quickly as my terrified body would let me, which was little more than a few timid steps. Bringing up my Enforcer I desperately opened fire into the monster. Rounds punched into its skin and staggered the beast but failed to break through its thick carapace. It hissed angrily and brought its massive knee up into my chest. The armor there buckled and I was sent flying back. I blacked out before I even hit the ground. My body was limp as it rolled countless times across the dirt before I finally came to a halt. I was lying on my stomach when I finally regained consciousness. Spitting up blood that I wasn't quite sure if it were mine, I forced myself to look up. The alien that had kicked me was gone, likely thinking me dead from the blow. I sure felt dead. Even with all the armor on my chest I could tell the kick had broken if not shattered a few of my ribs. It hurt to just lay there and breathe.

"Major Gregory," the monotonous female voice said into my helmet. At that moment, I was sure the synthesized voice of the ship was going to be the last thing I ever heard. That notion pissed me off slightly and I resolved not to die with my face in the dirt.

"What?" I grumbled, watching as the beast that hit me was now distracted with killing more active humans.

"We have received multiple distress signals from your squad. Eighty percent of ground forces are confirmed KIA. What is the situation?"

I tried to push myself up off the ground with my hands. Pain lanced through my chest, reminding me that I was still very much alive and very much injured. I was so shaken at the moment my body simply refused to function. Nearly every inch of me was covered in either red or orange blood, most of it mixing into a thick gooey tar. My chest plate was trashed and I couldn't find my gun. But somehow, I was alive. For now. I fell back to the dirt, exhaling sharply as I decided to finish my conversation first.

"We're dying," I coughed, "we need to be evac-ed, now!"

"We have reinforcements on the way, Major. Hold your ground," the female voice droned and the line was dead once again.

"A lot of good they'll do," I growled back although 'she' couldn't hear me.

Getting to my feet was enough of a chore, let alone trying to fight off these things. It seemed that the monsters were rather susceptible to playing dead as I was all but forgotten at the moment. They were also faster than they looked. In just the short period of time I was on the ground they were already chasing the remains of my squad, a mere three or four people (it was hard to tell at this distance), through the farming community. The stutter of Enforcer rifles was almost drowned out by the loud bangs of the alien's glass throwers. There had to be at least four of the monsters now, judging on the rate their weapons were firing.

I looked for my rifle and found it was tossed across the small field a few meters away. Groaning I slowly moved over and picked up the gun, only to find it was almost bent in a complete ninety degree angle from me using it to block the knee to my chest, to no avail. I tossed the weapon aside and walked over to the silo I had been hiding behind moments earlier. There the corpse of the alien sat, unmoving, its head a pulped mass of amber goo with more sap leaking from the holes in its chest. It had slumped over against the silo, the branches on its back cracking and bending under the weight of the corpse, making it appear as though the beast were lying in a bed of leaves. I ran my fingers along the bark that coated its body, feeling the familiar roughness that you would get from any regular tree. Touching the sappy blood that pooled around it I found that the amber tar was incredibly sticky, as one would expect from a tree's sap. Not until inspecting the exposed insides of the creature's skull did I find any evidence of organs. It had a brain just like any other creature, and a large one at that. Even with most of the skull having been blown away, its brain was at least the size of an entire humans head, if not bigger. I could only imagine there were similar vital appendages such as a heart and lungs inside the creature's chest cavity.

"Major Gregory, are you still alive?" a deep voice echoed through my helmet.

"Yes, who is this?" I answered, still standing over the corpse.

"Captain Thomas Kane of Power-Suit Lance 7, you needed some help?"