Shock And Awe
Outskirts of New Beijing, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
"Think of how different cultures on Earth have been. That's the same race of people on the same planet. These guys are from a totally different solar system, who knows what oddities they might have in their daily lives. Hell, something as simple as landscape influences culture, Fred. Like the ancient Egyptians: their religion and view of the afterlife was based on the idea of a cycle of rebirth. The reason for that is because the Nile river would regularly overflow its banks and fertilize the ground for farming year after year. Compare that to the nomadic Hebrews that never settled down, so they thought that their god was everywhere and always willing to watch over them provided they did the right thing. Now think of how the aliens' world could have changed their societies."
"How the hell do you know so much about history, Kevin?" Fred asked in surprise. "You never know anything about anything."
"Well first off, thank you for that. Second, I happen to play a lot of historical strategy games, you pick stuff up after a while."
Fred shook his head. "Right, well sorry for insulting you but the fact remains that I just don't care what Snaggletooth the Plumber thinks of his country's taxation policies when his race's armada is parked above my planet."
"And I understand that but at the same time it's not like we have anything else to do right now besides walk and talk so I just don't get how can you not be curious about this."
"I wouldn't mind watching a documentary on them someday, but right now? I say kill 'em all and let their god figure it out." Fred had to admit, the racial history of the alien invaders was the last thing he expected to be talking about but after seven days of walking through the wilderness with Kevin and Michael, they were rapidly running out conversation topics.
Kevin tossed his hands in the air. "Well then I guess we'll just march in silence until we catch up to Michael because you seem intent on using the 'invading aliens' conversation killer excuse."
"It's a legitimate excuse," Fred argued. "It's not like I'm blowing off a date because I have to wash my hair. I just don't want to think about the aliens as people seeing as how I'm probably going to have to kill some later on."
Kevin opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly not having any idea what to say in response. It was a cold, hard truth that until this war was over the aliens were the enemy and had to be shot on sight. Thinking of the lives they lead before they came to Shanxi might cause hesitation in a firefight and someone might get killed because of it. Fred refused to let someone die because he screwed up, he didn't want that kind of guilt following him around.
"I. . .I gotta say Fred, as depressing as that was, I'm glad you said it."
Fred stopped walking to turn and look Kevin in the face. "How so?"
Kevin took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders noncommittally. "I just. . .you and Michael have been so. . .pragmatic, I guess is the right word. Emotions don't blind you guys, which is handy in shoot out and when we have to decide what plan we should go with but other times. . ." Kevin trailed off.
"Like when Michael and I didn't show any kind of respect or reverence for the dead alien bodies," Fred finished.
"Exactly! It was the smart choice, the one most likely to get us information that could help us survive. But I'm not sure I want to survive this if I have to compromise my principles to do it. What kind of life can I lead after all this is over if I don't recognize the person in the mirror?"
"You really think dissecting some aliens is going to make you hate yourself that much?"
"No, but it made me uncomfortable. What happens when it no longer makes me uncomfortable? When I reach that point what will be the next thing that makes me uncomfortable? How long before I move past that thing? When do I stop sliding down that slope? Will beliefs that I once held dearly important be discarded without a second thought simply because of the slow decline of my morals?"
"Unfortunately, I can't think of anything to say to make you feel better because I don't think you're wrong." Fred sighed and gave Kevin a reassuring pat on the back. "Come on, we should start moving again, don't want to fall even further behind Michael."
Jia Siang, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
"OK, here's another one. What's the difference between an epileptic corn farmer and your mother with diarrhea? Well, one of them shucks between fits-" Finn's joke was cut short by a loud explosion and the sudden collapse of a nearby six story building.
"What the hell caused that?" Yon wondered aloud.
The two men were hiding inside a partially damaged water tower. An aircar had crashed onto the roof of this apartment building and smashed into the tank, spilling the liquid out and leaving the building's inhabitants without running water. Finn had decided the now horseshoe-shaped tank would make for a good vantage point for sniping and so the two men had set up here and had successfully killed off two squads of aliens three blocks over before the sudden change in architectural surroundings interrupted their celebrations.
"Hell if I know, there aren't any armored units around here and I doubt the dinosaurs would waste a bunch of explosives to blow up a nonstrategic building."
Before Yon had the chance to offer his idea on the cause both men's radios suddenly crackled to life. "Everyone in Section Charlie, just got word from command that the explosion we all heard was caused by orbital bombardment. Repeat: an alien ship is shooting at us. Duck 'n cover, we've got more incoming!"
Yon and Finn looked at each other, their eyes widening. A slew of curses flew from their mouths as they quickly grabbed their gear and ran for the door to the stairs.
"They collapsed a building, will hiding in the damn stairwell really do anything to protect us?" Yon asked as they ran down the stairs.
"No it won't, which is why we aren't staying in the building! Once we hit ground level we're getting out of here!" Finn shouted.
Yon realized Finn had a good point. The aliens were far more likely to target buildings than empty streets so the safest place was outside. Even if hiding in a building protected you from the initial blast from the shot you would still be screwed if the structure collapsed. Suddenly, there was a loud boom and Finn stumbled and slammed into the wall as the whole building shook.
Yon managed to keep his balance and helped Finn to his feet. "Feels like they hit one real close. Come on, we gotta move."
The two men attempted to resume their run down the stairs when they heard several explosions in rapid succession and the tremors started again.
"I guess the first two shots was just the aliens testing out their targeting system, now that they've got a lock I don't think we're going any farther!" Finn managed to shout over the noise.
"I'm blaming you if we die here Finn!"
"Oh screw you, it was a good place for killing dinosaurs!"
Outskirts of New Beijing, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
Having spent the majority of his life in the mountainous forests back on Earth, Michael was quite adept at moving through the wilderness on Shanxi and so had generally been taking point for the three man group. On the one hand, Michael was the most experienced and so should be leading, but on the other hand Fred felt bad for relying on Michael so much. Michael plotted their course through the woods, set up camp each night, brought back wild goats he had caught, started a cooking fire and kept it small enough to avoid attracting attention, all while getting the least amount of sleep of the three men. Fred just didn't feel like he or Kevin were pulling their weight. This weighed on Fred's mind as he and Kevin exited the wooded area they had been traversing and stood beside Michael. They were at the edge of a suburban neighborhood, currently standing in someone's backyard.
"Could we please raid one of the houses for supplies?" Kevin asked, almost whining. "Or should we knock first to see if anyone is home? I want something else to eat, I'm sick and tired of goat."
"I've been watching the windows on the houses since I got here," Michael responded, his voice just above a whisper. "I haven't seen any movement except in the house directly in front of us. Whoever is in there has been going room to room so I doubt it's the original inhabitants."
"Friend or foe?" Kevin asked.
"They're human, doesn't necessarily mean they're friendly," Michael warned.
Kevin's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Why wouldn't they be friendly? The entire planet is under attack, we have to stick together if we want to survive."
"Humanity isn't exactly winning the fight based on what I heard on the radio before we left the Observatory. It's been a week, things have probably gotten worse. I imagine those guys are doing the same thing you suggested, scavenging for supplies."
"That didn't answer my question, Fred."
Michael cut in, "They might not want to share what they find. They might even want what supplies we have." He then added as an afterthought, "Duh."
Fred looked back and forth between the two men. "Well, we aren't going to figure out if they're friendly by just standing here. Let's go say hello."
As they approached the backdoor Fred noticed a rather disgusting smell emulated from the house, in part due to the fact that the door was already partially open. "I know that smell," he said as he stopped at the door.
"As do I," Michael said. "That's the smell of death."
"Quit being so melodramatic," Kevin chastised. "What's the smell?"
"Michael wasn't being melodramatic, that's the smell of a dead body."
"What?!" Kevin yelped and immediately reached for his gun. "So the guy inside really will kill anyone to get their supplies?"
"Actually, they were dead when I got here."
Kevin, Michael, and Fred all looked straight up for the source of the new voice. A light skinned man with a shaved head was leaning out of the second story window, looking down at them.
"And just how do we know you're telling the truth?" Kevin asked. Fred was just glad Kevin wasn't pointing his gun at the man, he appeared friendly, they didn't need an unnecessary shootout.
"Come inside and look at the bodies. I haven't been here long but they've already got an impressive array of bugs eating them. Look, just come inside, less chance of getting seen by the dinosaurs," the man said as he disappeared back inside.
"Kevin, relax. He's probably telling the truth. Michael, I can tell by the look on your face that you're unhappy, what's up?"
"That guy was Systems Alliance military, we can't trust him."
Fred sighed. "The planet is under attack by aliens, don't you think that maybe, just maybe, that this isn't part of some big conspiracy by the government to take over your life?"
"Governments always use tragedy to take away freedoms in the name of security, whether or not they planned the tragedy. Germany did it after the Reichstag Fire, America did it in response to September 11th, mark my words, the Systems Alliance will figure out a way to do it when this is all over."
"You know, he's not exactly wrong based off the sources he's citing," Kevin pointed out.
"I'm not arguing this right now. Come on, let's go meet a puppet of the State," Fred drawled, his voice thick with sarcasm.
The three men entered the house into the dining room/kitchen. There was a door to the left which was barely still attached to the wall. As Fred walked through it he discovered the living room, as well as the source of the stench. There were three corpses in the room, a man was laying next to the front door while a women and teenage girl were leaning against the wall next to where Fred stood. Judging by the splatter marks, whoever had done this came in through the front door, shot the man and then shot the two women when they tried to flee out the back. The intruders then broke down the door as they searched the property for anyone else, Fred imagined the upstairs of the house was probably similarly damaged.
Fred could hear Kevin's gasp of surprise and Michael's low cursing as the two men followed him into the living room.
"Believe me now?"
The three men turned and saw the Systems Alliance man descending the staircase. Fred noticed that while the man was wearing military gear, it clearly wasn't designed with long, drawn out firefights in mind. It looked more like a military uniform that had had metal plates sewn into the clothing than actual armor.
"Yes," Fred quickly answered before Michael could say anything. "Yes, we do. Though if you didn't kill them, who did?"
The expression on the man's face changed quite dramatically, quickly going from apathetic to full anger in seconds. "The damned dinosaurs did it! Who else would go house-to-house killing every man, woman, and child they find?"
"Whoa whoa, calm down," Kevin said, placatingly. "We're sorry for asking. It's just that we've been walking through the wilderness for the past week, we aren't up on the current news."
The man visibly calmed down. "No, it's my fault. I'm sorry. We have enough problems right now without us fighting among ourselves."
"The aliens have intentionally been killing civilians?" Michael asked gruffly.
"Yea, they've been wiping out entire neighborhoods gestapo style, and they're damn good at it. We would send troops to intercept their death squads but half the time we don't know they've moved into a given area until we stumble upon the bodies."
"Damn. . .the old saying in true, war really is hell," Kevin said sadly.
The soldier snorted. "War isn't hell, in hell innocence is spared."
The four men stood there in forlorn silence for a moment.
"Why not evacuate everyone?" Kevin suggested, breaking the silence.
"To where? There are a number of suburbs surrounding New Beijing, if we move the people into the city that just brings them into the war zone and there are already too many people there anyway. If we move them out into the country then it's next to impossible to keep them supplied. Not to mention that there's no guarantee that they would listen to us, half of them didn't even bunker down when General Williams warned about the aliens, I can't imagine how hard it would be to get them to abandon their homes."
"It would be hard to get them to abandon their homes?" Michael asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Why would a people that have been persecuted by their own government and forced to flee to another planet in an entirely different solar system and are only able to survive in spite of, not because of, a corrupt military that is keeping a careful eye on everything they do at the behest of the very government they fled from not want to leave their homes when said military tells them to?"
"Bit of a mouthful there Michael," Kevin said nervously.
Fred's eyes darted back and forth between Michael and the military man, who had now crossed his arms over his chest and was glaring at Michael. This conversation was not going in the direction Fred had wanted it to go. Fred had hoped they would be able to talk their way into getting resupplied at this guy's base of operations, catch up on the state of the invasion, and then move on to get to Michael's bunker at the other side of New Beijing. Now, not only was the conversation quickly turning hostile but now they didn't know what the safest way to get across the city would be. The man had confirmed that there was heavy fighting in the city so that was clearly dangerous, but if the aliens had death squads wandering the outskirts of the city it might be even more dangerous to get caught out there without military assistance.
"Seeing as how the 'corrupt' military is fighting and dying to protect civvie, and by extension your, lives how about you show a little respect? After all, it's not like I owe you anything. I could walk out the door and leave you here to your own devices, see how well a group of woodsmen do on a battlefield."
"Whoa, let's not do anything hasty here," Fred quickly interjected. "We want to come with you, if you'll let us. Michael's just a little testy after a week in the woods and is a little skeptical of authority, that's all."
"Mike's a much more pleasant guy once you get to know him. Isn't that right Michael?" Kevin asked as he sharply elbowed Michael in the ribs.
"I'm a regular bucket of sunshine," Michael deadpanned.
The military man let out a long breath and his posture went from tense to slumped. "That's good enough for me. . .which is depressing when I think about it. Says a lot about the situation if I hear someone saying that crap about the Alliance and I don't bust their teeth in. Whatever. I'm Howard by the way."
"Kevin, Michael, Fred," Fred said, pointing at each person in turn. "So what are you doing in here? Looking for survivors?"
"Partially, truth be told we've since given up on hoping to find anyone alive after the dinosaurs move through a neighborhood. That way we aren't disappointed when we only find corpses. The real reason I'm here is to scavenge."
"Scavenge for what?" Kevin asked.
Howard shrugged. "Whatever I can get. Fresh food that doesn't come out of a can is the most requested item but we need everything from socks to toilet paper."
The expression on Kevin's face was a mixture of disgust and curiosity. "I can understand needing toilet paper because. . .well we all know why, but why do you need socks?"
"Every soldier knows the importance of a good pair of socks," Howard lectured. "If you have to ask why then consider yourself lucky for not ever having seen a case of trench foot."
"Trench foot?"
"It's ugly, sufficient to say a pair of dry socks are worth more than a phaser to some soldiers."
"Right, uh well. . .let's help you look."
Jia Siang, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
"Are we dead?"
"Shouldn't you being able to ask that question tell you the answer?"
"Don't be getting philosophical on me."
Finn snorted. "Just get up already. We need to check out the damage, see what's still standing and what isn't."
Finn hoisted the TR-116 and began walking down the stairwell, he heard Yon scrambling to grab his stuff and follow. When the two men reached ground level they cautiously opened the door leading outside and peeked their heads out. What they saw made Finn immediately offer a quick prayer to God in thanks.
"It's all gone," Yon stated in shock.
While the side of the street the two snipers were on was relatively undamaged (from the orbital bombardment anyway) everything on the other side was rubble. Everything on the next block over was also smashed to bits, as well as the block past that.
"Finn, I'm suddenly very thankful we were sniping from so far away, they destroyed like three square blocks."
"You really think that directed at us?" Finn didn't know whether to be honored or horrified at that prospect.
"I would guess so, we were the only ones around here engaging the aliens before they decided to rain hell down."
Realization dawned on Finn. "That would explain why the last dinosaur didn't seem that nervous as I picked off his squad. He wasn't expecting to make it out alive, he called down that suicide strike."
"He wanted to take us out with him, huh?" Yon shook his head in disbelief. "He did all that and we're still here." Yon grinned. "Oh well, point for us."
"Come on Yon, we need to get out of here before any dinosaurs show up."
"But. . ." Yon paused, his brow creased in worry. "Don't you think we should look for survivors? People might still be alive under some of those buildings."
"It pains me to say this but, as Jingles would point out, that's not our job. Our job is to kill dinosaurs and move before we're discovered and considering what just happened, I'd say we failed the second part."
New Beijing, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
"This is an eldritch abomination of parts I've somehow managed to get to work together despite them having never been designed for the purposes I'm using them for. This thing makes a rube goldberg contraption look simple."
Michael gave the ten foot combat walker a once-over appraisal. "It looks like you grabbed a bunch of crap from a junkyard, threw it all in a giant blender and hit frappe."
The mechanic, a short, overweight man, huffed indignantly. "True, but the more important thing is that it works."
"You've used it against the aliens?" Michael asked in surprise.
"Yep," the mechanic said proudly. "I even took out a tank with it."
"Wait, you piloted this thing? You?"
"I may not be the picturesque image of a soldier but my home, my community, needs defending. I have to step up," the man said firmly.
"Well. . .yea, but still. . .you?"
The mechanic sighed in exasperation. "It's not like I'm out there trying to jump up and pluck their planes from the sky, I'm there to support the guys that know what they're doing. It's like Howard told me: there are many old pilots and many bold pilots but there are very few old, bold pilots. He then asked which one I wanted to be."
Michael nodded in agreement. "Good advice."
"I certainly thought so."
"Right, well I will leave you to your work," Michael said as he walked off.
The Systems Alliance soldier, Howard, had lead Michael, Kevin, and Fred to his 'base camp' although using that term was being awfully generous. It was a three bay auto-body shop. Seventeen soldiers were holed up here, in addition to the mechanic, the mechanic's wife, his four employees, plus their wives.
Michael had been curious when he first spotted the walker in the corner, it didn't look like any of the ones he knew the System Alliance used. The fact that the mechanic had built the whole thing, basically from scratch, and that it worked well enough to be used in combat, was impressive. Made Michael wonder useful it actually was in a battle. The mechanic said he didn't do much so maybe it was only good for acting as a distraction. Then again, Michael had destroyed one of the aliens' shuttles with nothing but a cannon he had attached to his truck so maybe there was something to be said for improvisation.
Michael walked over to where Kevin and Fred were sitting. They appeared to be discussing whether they should stick around or keep moving.
"I'm not saying we try to get to Michael's by ourselves," Fred argued. "Howard mentioned how they were in contact with other outposts, we can hop from safe house to safe house to get through the city."
"Which means that once we make it to Michael's we will be on our own, the whole reason you wanted to leave to Observatory was because you were worried they aliens would attack us when we were alone," Kevin shot back. "Now we're surrounded by trained soldiers and you want to leave?"
"I'm actually curious as to your response Fred," Michael said as he sat down. "I want to get to my house because it's MY house. What's your reasoning?"
Fred lowered his voice. "Guys, look around you. With us here, there are thirty people living in this building. Auto-body shops are not built with ergonomics or living conditions in mind. I'm surprised the people here are as healthy as they are." Fred bent down to floor and pointed at some engine sludge. "You see that? My head will be next to that while I sleep tonight. What if I roll over and get it on my face?" He straightened back up in his seat. "If one of us catches something and gets sick we are screwed, that's why I want to get out of here."
Kevin glanced around at the shop, taking in the dust and the filth. "You may have a point."
"Ideally, I want to be close enough to the city so that we can go into it if we need to, join up with the army or something. Keep our options open basically. If we stay here though, we don't have options, we do whatever they tell us because they're in charge," Fred explained.
New Beijing, Shanxi. March 23, 2157 AD
"Do you really think you should be drinking so much Chang? I'm not opposed to getting drunk under normal circumstances but we are in the middle of a warzone."
"AAAHHH shut up Gimpy."
Howard sighed. While he was eternally grateful for the Lion's Squad for saving his life he found them to be rather unprofessional. His attempts to correct their behavior had been rather unsuccessful. Of course, Howard might have had more luck if the man in charge of the squad made any attempts at enforcing discipline. Howard looked over at said Service Chief, one Zaeed Massani, who was smoking a cigar and was fiddling with something on his wrist computer who finally looked up when he noticed Howard staring.
"Let him be Howard," Zaeed grunted before returning his gaze to his computer.
"But he's drunk enough to drown a fish. He's-" Howard's diatratripe was interrupted by the sound of Chang collapsing face forward onto the floor. "Whelp he's passed out now. What would we do if the dinosaurs showed up right now?
"We'd run and Chang would make for a handy distraction, that's what. Maybe we'd get lucky and one of them would trip over him in their haste to get to us."
"Assuming they didn't kill him, he'd still be captured! Why don't any of your men seem to realize the severity of what they do?"
Zaeed growled and stood up from his chair. He walked over to Howard and suddenly Howard realized just how tall Zaeed was as the man glared down at him.
"Howard, you want to insult us because we're messy, because we lack discipline, because we like to blow crap up, whatever, that's fine because it's all true." Howard found himself staring down the end of a very angry finger pointed at his face. "But don't you DARE say we don't understand how guddamn serious things are. Need I remind you, the only reason we weren't able to rescue more of your platoon was because we had to stop and defend a freakin' HOSPITAL, which we were ultimately unsuccessful in doing I might add! So if after everything my men have seen and done, if they need something to get them through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a guddamn bottle of Jack Daniels, they will get it and you will keep your mouth shut or you will wish we had left you to the dinosaurs! Have I made myself clear?!"
"Yes yes, sorry," Howard said, trying to back out of the awkward situation.
"Guddamn rookie," Howard heard Zaeed mutter before the Service Chief sat back down and began fiddling with his computer again. Howard decided he should probably find someone else to talk to.
Howard walked up to Jyrki and James, who were going through all the supplies that Howard had recovered on his scavenger hunt through the neighborhood where he had met Kevin, Michael, and Fred. Howard would never admit it out loud, but he loved listening to Jyrki talk. The man had baritone voice that you could feel in your bones whenever he spoke. He should have become a singer not a soldier.
"You guys find what it was you wanted?" Howard asked the duo.
"Taste this," Jyrki said as he held up a jar to Howard.
Howard stuck his finger in the food and brought a bit up to his lips. "Not bad," he said after a moment's contemplation.
Jyrki looked at Howard like he was crazy. "That stuff expired in 2098! It predates the founding of Chiron!"
"Makes me wonder why anyone bothered bring it Shanxi," James muttered.
"OK, that is a long time ago," Howard said reluctantly. He just got yelled at by Zaeed, Howard really didn't want to deal with these guys yelling at him because of the food he brought. "What's the problem though? It still tastes like creamed corn."
"It's deviled ham!" Jyrki exclaimed.
"Well that's a problem," Howard admitted.
"Relax," James said, grinning. "It's not like we expect you to check the expiration dates on sealed food you bring us. Jyrki is just upset because I said it still tasted fine and he put his last carton of cigarettes on the line saying no one else would be able to stomach it."
"You don't even smoke," grumbled Jyrki. "Why do you torment me so, James? You know how I get without my cigarettes."
James laughed. "Whenever life's difficulties start getting to you, just remember that diamonds can only be made under extreme pressure."
Jyrki just stared at James.
Howard arched an eyebrow. "I'm with Jyrki on this one, what the hell was that James?"
James shrugged. "I read it in a fortune cookie, seemed appropriate for the situation."
"You are a strange man, James, a strange man."
Jyrki shook himself out of his daze. "Right. . .well once we get all this stuff sorted I gotta give the three squads holed up at Planet X a ring, they had to leave all their food behind when they abandoned the apartment complex they had been staying in."
"We taking the food to them or they gonna stop by and grab it?" James asked.
"Don't know yet, will depend on who's got people available when I make the call."
James sighed. "You know, I really feel like we should put more effort into planning and working together than we do. Why isn't General Williams coordinating retaliation strikes or something?"
"Insufficient data," Howard answered.
"Huh?"
"This isn't a video game or a Jason Bourne movie, he can't micromanage our movement and tell us when to attack and when to take cover because he doesn't know what the best action to take in a given situation would be. He may have an overall plan but for the day-to-day stuff he has to have faith in our ability to analyze a situation and make the best decision."
"Alright," James responded. "Then why don't we at least coordinate with the nearby troops more than we currently do?"
"I can answer that one," Jyrki interjected. "To quote the Chief, 'If even we don't know what we are doing, the guddam dinosaurs certainly can't anticipate our future actions.'"
"That's. . .one way to look at it. . .I guess."
"I would advise against going and asking him about it right now if I were you James," Howard said. "I kinda pissed him off when I questioned how he ran things, he doesn't need you doing more of the same."
James waved his hand dismissively. "Yea, but the Chief is always pissed, that's nothing new."