"Communications this is Halden, is anyone else at East entrance?" Halden said over the radio as he looked at the corridor for signs of movement in the darkness.
Raul, who had been falling asleep despite the situation, suddenly jumped to life. "This is communications. No one else is near you, why what's up?" he asked.
"Our door just opened, all we can see is a corridor and the lights are out" Halden reported, seeing no signs of movement.
"Shouldn't be, all internal lighting is on, be careful" replied Raul rubbing his tired eyes. His scheduled rest time was now but with current events it was on hold.
Finley, seeing Rauls worried face decided to get involved. He had enough of sitting in the communications room; it was getting awful crowded in there with the eight soldiers and 3 communications personnel. He activated Rauls communications system.
Finley looked at Adams who gave a confirming nod.
"Finley here. Halden you two hold tight we're on our way. East entrance is right next to us"
"Understood" Halden replied nervously.
Damn! He thought. Halden was a freshman, just as his best mate Duante was. They had both trained together for many years. Then they were sent here. Ever since training they had made a vow to always go on missions together. This was their first and only one so far. They were good friends who were always playing jokes on others together. Halden liked it here, while Duante was more gung ho and eager for personal revenge.
Duantes family had been killed in one of many Alien invasions of human colonies. He had watched as the creatures tore through his father who had managed to hold them of long enough for him and a few others to get away.
Duante, thinking he may get a chance for up close and personal revenge, unlike the distant encounters so far, decided to take matters into his own hand.
"I can't wait, I'm going in" he said moving towards the corridor.
"What're you doing Dan?" Halden asked. He called Duante Dan for short because he felt Duante was too much of a mouthful.
"If there's an Alien in there I wanna give it a personal message" Duante replied as memories of his fathers last moments flooded back to him. Seeing the Aliens ripping his father into pieces as he was dragged crying onto an evac ship. He had only been ten then.
"Dan man, you know that's a mistake you heard what Finley said. Besides you can't go one on one. They see in the dark, we don't" Halden said surprised at his friends sudden change.
Even though all soldiers carried night vision as standard it didn't help make Aliens stand out when it was black against black.
"NO!" Duante shouted startling Halden "I've waited a long time for this" and with that Duante moved forward into the light-less corridor. Halden had no choice but to follow and cover his enraged friend as best he could.
"Dan get the fuck back here! You're not thinking straight you can't fight like this" Halden tried one last time to stop his best friend but to no avail. Duante continued on in the corridor all sounds drowned out by his memories. Halden tensed up as he entered the corridor.
Finley held up his hand motioning the team to stop. He activated his radio.
"Who's shouting?" he asked.
Halden jumped when his radio burst to life. He fumbled for it as it was hard to see in the green world of night vision.
"Its Duante he's gone crazy all of a sudden. Saying he wants personal revenge. We're in the corridor he won't listen to me" Halden whispered. He knew if there was something here it was definitely on to them with the amount of noise they had already made.
Duante was looking around quickly, eager to find his revenge. He was walking fast down the corridor without taking any notice of where he was going. Halden followed him as best he could.
As Halden turned a corner he could hear a gurgling sound. The sight before him caused him to lose all control of himself as his hands let go of his weapon and he froze. He stared in shock as Duante was held up in the air his chest armour ripped apart with blood spurting out of a wound. All Halden could see was a strange shimmer, nothing else.
Blood sputtered out of Duantes mouth as he gurgled for a few more seconds before his body fell limp. Halden watched the strange shimmer move away through his night vision as Duantes body hit the ground with a dull thud.
"GET DOWN!"
Halden snapped out of his frozen state and did as instructed hitting the ground as someone fired down the corridor in which Duante had just been killed. Explosive tipped bullets dug into the ground and walls all around the corridor.
"Cover me" Finley shouted from behind Halden as he moved down the corridor. His team followed.
Halden could see that Duante was twitching. He ran to his fallen friend and kneeled down by Duantes side. Tears fell down Haldens face onto Duantes lifeless body. He cradled his best friends body, crying.
"Dan man, why did you do this. You left me man. We made a promise long ago. We'd never leave each other, we'd always be here for each other. You left me..." Halden sobbed, conflicting emotions welling up inside him. Anger. Sadness. Fear.
Finley listened to this as he and his team secured the area as best they could. He didn't know what to think. There had never been a killing in the base. Those who had died or were killed previously had been so outside of the base. Now death was much closer.
Shen who was a part of Finleys team turned to see Halden cradling Duantes body, crying. He whispered a small prayer for the spirit of the fallen soldier. Shen was chinese and one of the few on this base originally from Earth. Shen was very spiritual and had fun teaching the children in the base about his spiritual beliefs. They especially enjoyed his stories which always had a moral message.
Shen turned back to look down the corridor when he noticed a strangely bright patch on a wall in his night vision. It was almost bright enough to hurt his eyes. He moved his goggles from his eyes and saw what the patch was. A strange green glowing substance was on the wall. He followed it down onto the floor where spots of the substance trailed of into a corridor further down.
"Sir, over here" he said motioning to Finley.
Finley had a look at what Shen was pointing at but saw just a small bright patch.
"Take your night vis off Sir"
Finley did so and to his surprise the bright patch glowed green in the pitch black corridor. For a second he wondered whether the night vision goggles had messed with his vision.
"What is that?" Dena asked. She too had taken off her goggles to look at what had taken both Shens and Finleys interest.
"Keep watch Dena" Finley instructed. She turned back to cover the area, placing the goggles back over her eyes.
"We must've hit Whatever or whoever killed Duante." Finley said. "If it bleeds we can kill it" he continued, thinking out loud.
"Adams, this is Finley. Send a team here, we need to get Halden and the body out of here. It's Duante, he's been killed. We found what seems to be blood". Finley had seen many die in his lifetime. He had to keep it impersonal in order to think straight and not become one of them.
"Confirmed, one of the sweep teams is nearby. They're on the way." Adams replied. Being a veteran of the Alien wars he too was used to these situations.
"As soon as they get here my team and I are going on a hunt"
Raul, who had been falling asleep despite the situation, suddenly jumped to life. "This is communications. No one else is near you, why what's up?" he asked.
"Our door just opened, all we can see is a corridor and the lights are out" Halden reported, seeing no signs of movement.
"Shouldn't be, all internal lighting is on, be careful" replied Raul rubbing his tired eyes. His scheduled rest time was now but with current events it was on hold.
Finley, seeing Rauls worried face decided to get involved. He had enough of sitting in the communications room; it was getting awful crowded in there with the eight soldiers and 3 communications personnel. He activated Rauls communications system.
Finley looked at Adams who gave a confirming nod.
"Finley here. Halden you two hold tight we're on our way. East entrance is right next to us"
"Understood" Halden replied nervously.
Damn! He thought. Halden was a freshman, just as his best mate Duante was. They had both trained together for many years. Then they were sent here. Ever since training they had made a vow to always go on missions together. This was their first and only one so far. They were good friends who were always playing jokes on others together. Halden liked it here, while Duante was more gung ho and eager for personal revenge.
Duantes family had been killed in one of many Alien invasions of human colonies. He had watched as the creatures tore through his father who had managed to hold them of long enough for him and a few others to get away.
Duante, thinking he may get a chance for up close and personal revenge, unlike the distant encounters so far, decided to take matters into his own hand.
"I can't wait, I'm going in" he said moving towards the corridor.
"What're you doing Dan?" Halden asked. He called Duante Dan for short because he felt Duante was too much of a mouthful.
"If there's an Alien in there I wanna give it a personal message" Duante replied as memories of his fathers last moments flooded back to him. Seeing the Aliens ripping his father into pieces as he was dragged crying onto an evac ship. He had only been ten then.
"Dan man, you know that's a mistake you heard what Finley said. Besides you can't go one on one. They see in the dark, we don't" Halden said surprised at his friends sudden change.
Even though all soldiers carried night vision as standard it didn't help make Aliens stand out when it was black against black.
"NO!" Duante shouted startling Halden "I've waited a long time for this" and with that Duante moved forward into the light-less corridor. Halden had no choice but to follow and cover his enraged friend as best he could.
"Dan get the fuck back here! You're not thinking straight you can't fight like this" Halden tried one last time to stop his best friend but to no avail. Duante continued on in the corridor all sounds drowned out by his memories. Halden tensed up as he entered the corridor.
Finley held up his hand motioning the team to stop. He activated his radio.
"Who's shouting?" he asked.
Halden jumped when his radio burst to life. He fumbled for it as it was hard to see in the green world of night vision.
"Its Duante he's gone crazy all of a sudden. Saying he wants personal revenge. We're in the corridor he won't listen to me" Halden whispered. He knew if there was something here it was definitely on to them with the amount of noise they had already made.
Duante was looking around quickly, eager to find his revenge. He was walking fast down the corridor without taking any notice of where he was going. Halden followed him as best he could.
As Halden turned a corner he could hear a gurgling sound. The sight before him caused him to lose all control of himself as his hands let go of his weapon and he froze. He stared in shock as Duante was held up in the air his chest armour ripped apart with blood spurting out of a wound. All Halden could see was a strange shimmer, nothing else.
Blood sputtered out of Duantes mouth as he gurgled for a few more seconds before his body fell limp. Halden watched the strange shimmer move away through his night vision as Duantes body hit the ground with a dull thud.
"GET DOWN!"
Halden snapped out of his frozen state and did as instructed hitting the ground as someone fired down the corridor in which Duante had just been killed. Explosive tipped bullets dug into the ground and walls all around the corridor.
"Cover me" Finley shouted from behind Halden as he moved down the corridor. His team followed.
Halden could see that Duante was twitching. He ran to his fallen friend and kneeled down by Duantes side. Tears fell down Haldens face onto Duantes lifeless body. He cradled his best friends body, crying.
"Dan man, why did you do this. You left me man. We made a promise long ago. We'd never leave each other, we'd always be here for each other. You left me..." Halden sobbed, conflicting emotions welling up inside him. Anger. Sadness. Fear.
Finley listened to this as he and his team secured the area as best they could. He didn't know what to think. There had never been a killing in the base. Those who had died or were killed previously had been so outside of the base. Now death was much closer.
Shen who was a part of Finleys team turned to see Halden cradling Duantes body, crying. He whispered a small prayer for the spirit of the fallen soldier. Shen was chinese and one of the few on this base originally from Earth. Shen was very spiritual and had fun teaching the children in the base about his spiritual beliefs. They especially enjoyed his stories which always had a moral message.
Shen turned back to look down the corridor when he noticed a strangely bright patch on a wall in his night vision. It was almost bright enough to hurt his eyes. He moved his goggles from his eyes and saw what the patch was. A strange green glowing substance was on the wall. He followed it down onto the floor where spots of the substance trailed of into a corridor further down.
"Sir, over here" he said motioning to Finley.
Finley had a look at what Shen was pointing at but saw just a small bright patch.
"Take your night vis off Sir"
Finley did so and to his surprise the bright patch glowed green in the pitch black corridor. For a second he wondered whether the night vision goggles had messed with his vision.
"What is that?" Dena asked. She too had taken off her goggles to look at what had taken both Shens and Finleys interest.
"Keep watch Dena" Finley instructed. She turned back to cover the area, placing the goggles back over her eyes.
"We must've hit Whatever or whoever killed Duante." Finley said. "If it bleeds we can kill it" he continued, thinking out loud.
"Adams, this is Finley. Send a team here, we need to get Halden and the body out of here. It's Duante, he's been killed. We found what seems to be blood". Finley had seen many die in his lifetime. He had to keep it impersonal in order to think straight and not become one of them.
"Confirmed, one of the sweep teams is nearby. They're on the way." Adams replied. Being a veteran of the Alien wars he too was used to these situations.
"As soon as they get here my team and I are going on a hunt"