So far...
A conspiracy on Earth saw much of the world's space fleet annihilated by a new, mysterious enemy that has sowed discord throughout the galaxy. Atlantis was lost, but the enemy vessel was destroyed before it could turn its weapons against Earth. Elsewhere, the reptilian militaristic Calsharans are embroiled in civil war; the avian makalvari are finally retaking ground previously lost to this rival species, whilst the mysterious enemy, 'Demons' from beyond the reaches of the galaxy, begin to make their presence known.
Colonel John Sheppard heads SG-1, comprised of the following members: Doctor Daniel Jackson, archaeologist; Staff Sergeant Natalia Tarasovna, a Russian combat engineer on loan to the SGC; Aithris, an alien 'Nomad' warrior; and finally, Lieutenant Elsie Rhodes, an Australian reconnaissance specialist. Together, they embark on a mission to a world corrupted by the Void Demons, otherwise known as the 'Scourge'. And the mission proves to be more desperate and more costly than any of them could have anticipated...
Thou art my battle axe and weapon of war: for with thee, I will break in pieces the nations and with thee I will destroy kingdoms.
- Jeremiah 51:20
1: Scorched Ground
April 2nd, 2024
During the invasion of Bedrosia, the military base in which that world's stargate had been housed had been destroyed. The stargate itself had been recovered by the occupying forces, and a new facility had been built around it. That stargate had spent the last several months assisting the occupying Calsharans in moving personnel and materiel to and from the beleaguered world. Unlike so many of the other planets the reptilian humanoid Calsharans had occupied during their war of expansion, Bedrosia had been home to a human civilisation more advanced than the countless primitive cultures that had been scattered around the galaxy. The fighting here had been drawn-out and brutal, but in the end the Calsharans had successfully put an end to Bedrosian resistance and their flags had flown above the urban centres, the people firmly repressed under the heel of Calsharan aggression.
For a fight that had taken months, the occupation came to a fast and chaotic end. It was strange how things came about, that the seemingly unstoppable Calsharan war machine was beginning to falter. Bedrosia was at the edge of their sphere of influence, a temperate world packed full of precious natural resources, a world that proved its value in its rich deposits of minerals such as trinium, so critical they were for the construction of starships. And now, this very evening, the last of the Calsharan evacuation ships was leaving.
Colonel John Sheppard watched it from the ridge overlooking the military compound. It was a sprawling, utilitarian place, all stark black metal and blocky temporary structures. His increasingly lined features, the mark of a man in his fifties, narrowed as he watched the sleek, squat evacuation craft take off from the landing pad at the far end of the compound. Its engines burned a brilliant blue against the night sky, and somewhere distant, in the direction of an urban centre, flashes erupted, casting the clouds above in eerie flickers of light. There was another fight going on, another war and another invasion. The Calsharans were clearing out, cutting their losses in the face of such a strange, implacable foe. And John Sheppard, as had often been the case these past few years, found himself in hostile territory flanked by things that wanted to kill him.
He lowered the binoculars and clipped them to his combat vest. The uniform was as black as the night around it, his short-cropped hair covered by a simple black beanie. He took another moment to regard the compound, wondering if it was indeed deserted. The lights were still on, covering parts of the compound in dry, white illumination. Long shadows were cast by discarded metal crates and standing lights, yet no signs of life remained. The evacuation ship, one of the simpler Calsharan models of shuttle, blasted off into the night sky with a high-pitched whine. In an instant, it was gone, its sub-light engines shooting it into orbit in record time.
"Should we check it out?" A familiar male, if somewhat gravelly, voice sounded from his left. John turned to Aithris, the Nomad's violet-hued eyes glowing slightly in the dark. He was tall, broad-shouldered and muscular, his skin a deep blue and his body bereft of hair. Instead, several thin black spines grew from his scalp, following the curvature of his skull for a couple of inches each. His ears were a little smaller than those on a human, but also carried more of a point to them. As he spoke, his front pointed canines became visible. Sometimes John was reminded of a cat's mouth when he saw those teeth.
"Of course," John replied. They had come here for reconnaissance, and that was what they would do. The stargate was inside the main warehouse-style building at the heart of the compound, and with it was an expedient way to return home. Otherwise, the ship that had dropped them off here, the Odyssey, was long gone. This was a covert operation, and as such the Odyssey had departed the system after teleporting the team down to Bedrosia.
Aithris was dressed similarly to John, albeit in a uniform tailored to be a little larger. The others on the team were all outfitted in the same way, all black night gear and light armaments. Still standing at the cusp of the ridge, with sparsely vegetated ground spread out before him all the way up to the compound gates, John turned around to regard the rest of SG-1.
Doctor Daniel Jackson had been with them since the start. He was the only one here who had, and John had come to rely upon him more than he had ever thought he would since the team had been recommissioned. Daniel was a civilian, yet he had done enough field work to be a more experienced fighter than some of the others here. He lingered a few metres to John's left, his MPX submachine gun slung about his shoulder for the time being. Ever since they had come here, Daniel had carried serious doubts as to the validity of the mission. After all, they had come here in response to an intelligence report the Calsharan rebel leader, Toron Kavellan, had sent their way.
Whilst his people fought a civil war against a tyrannical government in their home system, he would occasionally send useful information to the SGC as part of a cooperation agreement. Usually, things that they would be in a better position to make use of, as Toron and his associates had far too much to deal with in their corner of the galaxy to come running out to some backwater world like Bedrosia.
"You smell that?" Aithris sniffed suddenly, and Daniel followed suit. John, however, could smell nothing untoward.
"What is it?" He knew the Nomad's sense of smell was finer tuned than that of a human. As a former acolyte of his people's ruling council, Aithris had been implanted with nanotechnology that had enhanced his reflexes and coordination, as well as granting him faster healing capabilities. It seemed his nose had also been enhanced, and John had come to trust his insights.
"There is evil on the wind," Aithris replied.
"Now's not the time to get ominous." Staff Sergeant Natalia Tarasovna spoke up then, interjecting with a smile in her voice at the Nomad's remark. Her Russian accent was not as thick as it had been since she had first transferred to the SGC, but occasionally it came through more pronounced when it came to words she did not use as often as others. She was an athletically built woman in her mid-thirties, with light brown hair that was tied back into a neat bun and thoughtful blue eyes.
"I've smelled it before," Aithris said. "We should tread carefully, Colonel."
"Don't we always?" John asked. Aithris did not give him the benefit of an answer, well aware that it was more of a rhetorical question than anything else. John started down the slope, motioning for the others to follow. That was when Lieutenant Elsie Rhodes fell in alongside him, her M110 marksman rifle resting across her stomach from its strap, both hands keeping it steady. She was of a similar age to Natalia, tall and slim, with brown hair that she kept cut into a suitably short bob and similarly coloured eyes. Her features were tanned, and when she spoke her Australian accent stuck out more than even Natalia's Russian one did.
"Colonel, you think we're going to find anything here?" She asked him. They traversed the grey, sandy ground underfoot carefully as the slope gradually eased out. The Calsharans had cleared the forest away from the compound's perimeter, as was standard procedure for most such installations. A good thirty metres of open ground surrounded the place, yet there was no threat to be found in the empty guard towers. The main gate lay wide open, and the last of the soldiers had cleared out in a hurry.
Somewhere distant, more thunderous booms sounded, indicating that the battle elsewhere continued to some capacity. What troubled John, when he heard those noises, was the fact that it was not the Calsharans and Bedrosians who were fighting each other. The Bedrosians had been left to fend for themselves, whilst something else now laid waste to their cities. So far, the team was yet to run into this other enemy, but whatever it was had been enough to send the Calsharans packing. The sparse information that Toron had intercepted had mentioned unknown enemy contacts, but it was the evacuation order that had caught the SGC's attention. If there was an enemy out there strong enough to send the Calsharans running, then it was worth looking into.
"Maybe. Maybe not." They were yet to find much more than burnt out settlements and abandoned Calsharan vehicles. The team had spent the last few days moving across the countryside, sleeping rough and occasionally hearing the sounds of battle in the distance. They had found no humans left in any of the places they had passed through, and no Calsharans had made their presences known until now. Overall, the trek had left John uneasy, and at times he could not shake the feeling that he and the team were being watched. Paranoia, maybe, but he had come to trust his instincts. And as they neared the abandoned compound now, he began to feel that familiar sense of unease take hold again.
"We should check their computers," Daniel suggested. He was a few paces behind, his bespectacled eyes surveying the compound ahead with an alertness one would expect from a soldier.
"They've probably destroyed anything useful," John said.
"Probably, but it's still worth a look." Daniel pointed to the main warehouse structure, within which the stargate was located. "They'll have a control centre in there, I'll bet."
They came upon the main gate. John motioned for Daniel and Aithris to head for the central building. He, Natalia and Elsie would sweep the rest of the compound. As the group split up, John fleetingly contemplated whether it would be best they stayed together. Again, he had that feeling of being observed, but they would cover more ground if they split up. And God knew he was in a hurry to get out of here, to get back home and sleep in a normal bed and eat food that was not comprised of chewy, cardboard-flavoured rations.
There was a quiet around the compound that pervaded the very air. The crunch of the team's booted feet on the gravel underfoot seemed amplified tenfold. A quiet whistle sounded as a breeze wafted between the deserted buildings. John moved at a cautious pace, with Natalia far off to his left. Elsie hung back, climbing up one of the guard towers in order to best position her sniper rifle. From up there, she could see much of the compound and the surrounding area. Resting the M110 upon the guardrail, she peered through the scope, safety on as she eyed John and Natalia further ahead. And then she moved the weapon around to catch sight of Aithris and Daniel, both of whom had come to the main building's entrance. There, Aithris forced the sliding door, as the automatic mechanism appeared to be non-functional. Those two quickly disappeared inside the large building, and in turn Elsie shifted her attention back to John and Natalia.
John stopped by a smaller side-building. This had been a barracks of some sort, now mostly empty with the door wide open. Beds and bedsheets were strewn about the place, left behind as those evacuating had likely considered such items unnecessary for the trip home. Cabinets were opened and various other bric-a-brac had been scattered about, as the former occupiers had sifted through everything to make sure nothing valuable was being left behind. John could picture the soldiers doing this, hurried along by an officer who stood over them and would shoot the odd glance in the landing pad's direction, waiting for the next evacuation ship.
The place was empty. None of these outer buildings were occupied. Computer terminals were smashed and data crystals, similar to those the Ancients had used in their systems, had been thrown to the floors and smashed. Their fragile circuitry had been ground into glass dust, ensuring nothing would be recovered. This part of the search was a bust, and John was emerging from a small storage shed of sorts when his ear-piece radio hissed into life.
"John, you're going to want to come see this." It was Daniel's voice, and he sounded worried.
"All right, I'm on my way." It had to be important, so John wasted no time in second-guessing Daniel. As there was nothing outside, he gestured for Natalia to follow before he waved up to where Elsie was positioned. He then put a finger to his earpiece, directing the next order to her:
"Lieutenant, keep an eye out here." She waved back, giving him the thumbs-up in confirmation.
John moved for the front entrance of the main building, the same one Daniel and Aithris had used. Natalia kept pace, remaining a few metres behind with her shotgun lowered but her posture alert. John stepped over the entrance's threshold to find himself in a wide, grey corridor that carried with it the stark utilitarian design so typical of Calsharan military structures. He had seen their cities, even been in their capital on their home-world; there had been vast cathedrals there, ones that would put the likes of the Vatican to shame. And yet, in comparison this temporary compound was far more functional above everything else, with few, if any, flourishes present in the design. It was all right angles, drab greys and black metals. Even the apparent reception desk here was of a similar design philosophy, although the potted alien fern in the corner suggested that the occupants had attempted to spruce the place up.
"Daniel, where are you?" John looked down the corridor, noting the stairs further along and the trio of evenly spaced doors along the right-hand side.
"Upstairs, John. First door on the right." Daniel's voice came through clear on the earpiece. John started for the stairs, feeling a slight chill in the cold air within the facility. Last year, he and his team had been in this very spot, escaping the Calsharan advance through the stargate. Most of the building had been destroyed then, leaving the Calsharans to build something new around the stargate.
The stairs took John and Natalia into a similar corridor. The door Daniel had indicated was open, and beyond it was indeed a control centre of sorts. A thick, reinforced glass window looked down upon the main warehouse space, in which the stargate stood stalwart amongst overturned metal crates. A catwalk ran above it, suspended from the steel beams that held up the ceiling. John could only assume some of the evacuees had used it to return home, with others fetching rides on their shuttles to whatever Calsharan ships awaited in orbit. Several had been detected by the Odyssey when it had brought them into the system, and it had been some careful flying and a clever use of Bedrosia's two moons to get in close enough for the teleporter to deposit the team upon the surface.
Daniel and Aithris stood before a bank of computer terminals, bathed in the subdued, blue-tinted glow of the one working light fitting in the ceiling above. Most of the terminals appeared non-functional, although one of the holographic screens appeared to be in working order. It flickered sporadically and its image was hazy in places, but the Calsharan symbols scrolling along the screen were unmistakable. Both turned around as John entered, and Daniel beckoned him over. With a few taps upon the holographic screen, he pulled up what appeared to be a live feed from somewhere in the facility. John was startled for a moment by what he saw, a fleeting sensation that he quickly quelled.
"Where is it?" He asked Daniel. From what he could see, the being in question was pacing about a cell somewhere. Aithris' face had adopted a firm scowl upon seeing the familiar figure of one of the so-called 'Heralds', apparently the leadership caste for the 'Void Demons', that ancient enemy they had been investigating for the past two years. The unknown enemy currently invading Bedrosia was suddenly not so 'unknown' anymore.
As with the last couple of Heralds they had encountered, this one was tall and broad and wore a thick black cloak. It features were grey and vaguely bestial, adorned with a pair of short, curved horns whilst underneath those, its eyes blazed a furious red. There were wide, fleshy wings contained under that cloak, and they certainly helped to sell the whole 'demonic' image. Seeing it on that screen only furthered John's sense of unease. What had they walked into here?
Natalia entered the room then. She was immediately drawn to the very screen everyone else was staring at. Upon seeing the Herald, she uttered a quiet gasp. Aithris turned to her, and the pair exchanged worried glances. John had suspected months ago that the pair had become romantically involved, and by this point he was fairly certain of their 'engagement'. Even if it was indeed happening, it was yet to interfere in their work.
"It's in the sub-level, right under our feet," Daniel said. "According to the logs I've recovered, it was captured a few days ago. They tried interrogating it, but it didn't tell them much." He paused briefly, mulling over what they might do about this worrisome captive. "Maybe I could try talking to it?"
"Those things won't talk, not unless they want to," John replied. He shook his head. "We'll knock it out and take it back with us."
"You sure that's a good idea?" Daniel asked him. John had already slung his M4 Carbine back around his shoulder, in order to free up his hands and pull the stun gun from his belt. Given the reconnaissance nature of the mission, it had seemed worthwhile packing such a device in case the opportunity arose for capturing a high-value target. This Herald certainly qualified, and John activated the simple stun device, hearing a satisfying beep as the battery pack powered on. The model had been derived from Wraith-made weaponry, using a similar power source but in a smaller, more practical shape (more reminiscent of a stun-gun carried by a police officer back on Earth).
"You want to leave it here?" John countered.
"We should kill it," Aithris suggested. His voice was hard, his conviction clear. "The Calsharans evidently did not have the courage to do so."
"Or they know something we don't," Daniel countered. "There could be a bomb inside that thing. That's something we've encountered before, right?" He had a point, yet John could not push aside the possibility of an intel victory when they interrogated that thing and learned all it knew. He supposed if the Calsharans had not succeeded, then what chance did the people at the SGC have?
"We'll go down and see what it says," John said. "And then we work from there."
"I wish to come with you," Aithris stated. He turned to John, meeting the man's gaze. John was not sure if he liked the look in those violet eyes of his. There was something there beyond curiosity, or the simple desire to assist John. Aithris' people had been almost wiped out by the Heralds and their cohorts, so it was no wonder the Nomad wanted revenge. John would have liked nothing more to see the Herald's head beaten in, especially after what had happened to Atlantis and much of Earth's space fleet last year. However, a more rational approach would be better here. They needed information and the Herald would have it.
"You stay here, Aithris," John said. He motioned to Natalia. "Sergeant, you come with me."
"I'll go too," Daniel said. "I want to talk to it."
John considered for a moment, before he gave Daniel a nod in the affirmative. He rounded his gaze on Aithris again, seeing some small measure of disappointment on the alien warrior's face.
"Radio us if anything changes. The Lieutenant's outside, so if she can't reach us she can probably reach you."
Aithris, like any good soldier, knew it was best to obey orders. He quelled whatever disappointment he felt and gave John a nod.
"Yes, Colonel." Sometimes John felt strange, giving the Nomad orders. Aithris held no official rank, was not even technically a citizen of any nation on Earth; rather, he was listed as an 'advisor' on SGC records, yet even those records failed to specify what species he was. Only a small handful of people had access to the full, unredacted files. Those files even included the results of various scans and tests run on Aithris when he had first come to the SGC; that was where it had become apparent that he had something in his system improving his overall abilities. And there was a good chance that someone, somewhere in some black ops project was trying to replicate that nanotechnology. If they were, they had yet to succeed.
The way down to the sub-level was not hard to find, nor was there much to it save for a single dead-end corridor lined by several doors. It was through one of them that the cell was located, protected by a vacant security checkpoint and lit by a single flickering fitting in the ceiling. John, Daniel and Natalia approached this room with caution, and John kept his weapon raised as he slid it open, for the automatic systems had since been disengaged.
The Herald was standing in the cell, eyes fixed towards the doorway. The creature let out an amused huff as John entered, unfazed by the weapon he had aimed towards it. Daniel followed, and unlike John he had his weapon stowed. As he neared the cell, the creature put a hand towards one of the bars. There came a flickering blue light that shot across its face, indicating that the energy shield keeping the prisoner trapped within was still working. The Calsharans, it seemed, had left that particular system running.
"All right, Daniel, see if you can't switch that thing off." John stopped a couple of metres from the cell, fixing his gaze upon that of the Herald.
"You sure we should do that?" Daniel asked. He had moved for the small control panel at the nearby wall, to the cell's left.
"No, but I need to stun this thing and that shield will only deflect the shot." John did not like the way the creature was watching him. Then again, he did not like the Herald whatsoever. One of those things had been on New Sanctuary, the Nomad's home-world, when it had fallen. Another had been at a hotel in Pittsburgh, of all places, indicating that conspirators on Earth had been in league with the creature. And another had been found by Jonas on Langara, right in the heart of his people's government. And finally, one had been on Atlantis when it had been destroyed, one that Aithris had killed. These creatures had been everywhere they should not have been, and John hated the thought that they had been manipulating events all this time. How far down did that rabbit hole go?
At least on Earth, those conspirators had been mostly dealt with. John and Aithris had seen to that, with quiet approval and covert support from General Janssen at the SGC.
"You're in the wrong place, Colonel Sheppard." The Herald's voice was like crunching gravel, and part of it seemed to reverberate within John's head, some kind of underlying layer that intruded in his thoughts. It had since been understood that these creatures had some level of telepathic ability, not too unlike the Wraith of the Pegasus galaxy.
"Is that so?" John met the Herald's eyes. They were, as expected, red and full of malice. "That's all right, because we'll be leaving shortly. Except you're coming with us."
"No, I won't." The creature sounded so sure of this, to the point that it annoyed John.
"Yeah, well, we'll see." He looked to Daniel again. "Come on, shut down the shield. We're taking this bastard with us."
"John, I think we need to be a little careful here…" Daniel had a valid point, yet John could not afford to pass up this opportunity. However, before he could reply, there sounded a distant thump that, in turn, caused the entire building around them to shake. It was the unmistakable sensation brought on by something exploding in close proximity, and John figured that whatever time they had left on Bedrosia was about to come to an abrupt end. Another detonation soon followed, and at that point his earpiece hissed into life and Elsie's voice came through it.
"Colonel, we're about to have company. I just saw some weird looking ship land over the ridge nearby." She sounded bemused, as if she was still trying to work out what she had seen. From what John had so far encountered when it regarded these 'Void Demons' and their minions, they favoured naturalistic-looking technology, in the sense that there was a distinct mishmash of the organic and inorganic. Rocks melded with machinery; ships made from materials one might expect to see in a volcano. So little was still known about this threat, and John hated being left guessing when that very threat was now about to land on top of him. All the more reason to knock this creature out and drag it on through the stargate.
"Get inside the main building. We're leaving." John took his finger away from the earpiece, aware that the Herald was staring at Natalia. She was trying not to look it in the eyes, and instead kept her shotgun pointed in its direction.
"We've seen you, Sergeant Natalia Tarasovna." The Herald's voice cut through John's train of thought like a knife. It was then that Natalia risked a look into the Herald's cruel eyes, startled that the creature knew her name. Of course, they all knew of the telepathic abilities these things had; it would have very easily pulled that information from her mind.
"We've seen you in your home, and we've seen you in the grand cathedral…"
"What?" Now Natalia stepped forwards, her face contorting with anger and confusion. John held up a hand, signalling her to stand down. He faced the Herald, still aiming the stun gun towards it.
"No mind games, please," John stated. "In simpler terms, shut your goddamned mouth." He motioned for Daniel to hurry things up. Another blast, closer this time, sounded from somewhere above. A trail of dust fell from the ceiling.
"Colonel, I think we should kill this thing." Natalia sounded tense, and there was a trace of fear in her voice. Normally, she was the kind of woman to hide her fear well, so the fact that John could see it on her so clearly spoke as to how deeply this Herald had affected her. Daniel had theorised that the unease they felt before such a creature was a result of some subtle telepathic force, a sort of 'programming' that was intended to disrupt anyone who might threaten the Herald. Whatever it was, it frustrated John as he did not much like having a near literal 'demon' messing with his head.
"Colonel, they're beating on the doors." It was Elsie's voice again, through his radio. John frowned, activating the earpiece once more.
"Who is, Lieutenant?"
"They're big and mean looking. And there's a lot of them." It seemed the enemy had found them. John needed to go see for himself. He noticed then that the Herald was smiling, pointed teeth bared.
"The Calsharans did not know what to do with me. In fact, some of their more superstitious sorts thought it best they leave me for my associates to find, as if that would spare their kind our vengeance." The Herald's amused tone was clear in its voice, and John found himself listening closely. "And now my people have found me. You know you cannot let me out of here, because you do not know what I can do even when unarmed. I could be a trap, a bomb or a biological weapon. You know it, I know it. Taking me to Earth would present too much risk."
It irritated John that the creature was right. Daniel glanced at him, waiting for his order. Another explosion sounded from above, and something metal-sounding and heavy clanked on the floor above them.
"Colonel, the entrance is compromised. If we're leaving, we have to do it now." Elsie sounded more than taut; there was anxiety there, and her voice was followed by the rattle of automatic weapons fire. It was Aithris' rifle, a SCAR-H, and it practically thundered down the line.
"Look, the shield's down. Either we take him or we leave him, right now." Daniel looked to John, who then looked to the Herald, wondering if it was even worth trying to take the bastard with them. There was no telling how effective the stun gun might be on such a thing, and from the way the Herald was watching him now it seemed to be getting some measure of delight from John's indecision.
Suddenly, Natalia stepped forwards and fired the shotgun. The shot was well aimed, and it went between two of the bars and struck the Herald in the face. Much of the creature's head exploded, and a blue-tinged reddish muck erupted from it, splattering across the wall behind it. The creature seemed to wobble on its feet for a moment, before it simply pitched over and landed in an uneven heap upon the floor. The noise the shotgun had made echoed about the room, reverberating from one wall to another. It set John's ears ringing for a good minute, and after the initial surprise wore off he turned on Natalia with widened eyes.
"Sergeant, just what…" He did not get to finish. Something down the hall exploded, filling the room with even more noise. Dust and smoke blossomed forth, and the door at the end had come flying out of its housing. John should have figured there was another entrance into this basement level, and at some point one of their enemies had found it. Now whoever they were was in the corridor, stomping down the hall. John moved for the door, intent on finding out just what they faced.
As he leaned around the doorway, a blazing red-orange light darted down the corridor and struck the wall by his head. There was an eruption of flame and smoke, molten metal and dazzling red sparks showering all around. John turned his head, feeling some of the flecks land on his neck and shoulder. Small pinpricks of burning followed, and he grunted at the building pain. Another of these energy bolts, swirling and almost liquid in appearance, landed upon the edge of the doorway. The explosion was enough to make him jump back, and as he did so he unslung his M4 carbine and held it past the doorway.
He fired blindly, wincing at the sizzling spots on his upper uniform. A few of the red flecks were eating holes into his combat vest, burning the armour plating within and sending forth a noxious, metallic stench. His M4 buckled in his grasp as he hosed fire down the hallway, emptying the full magazine in about three seconds flat. Natalia was already by the doorway's other side, and there she leaned around the corner and took a shot at the figure down the corridor.
The thing was bipedal, clad in a dark grey set of armour and, at a glance, shaped similarly to the Herald. Yet there was a rough, uneven quality to the flesh it displayed, with armour plating covering much of its torso, shimmering in an unnatural fashion in the light. It seemed to ripple in response to the hits it took, and the creature stumbled under the withering hail of bullets if only for a moment. It appeared that much of the force was being absorbed by the armour and whatever unusual material it was comprised of. At its left arm, there was a bulky black metal tube which glowed with an intense red-orange light. It appeared fused to the creature's arm, and so John assumed the intruder to be some form of rudimentary foot soldier. A drone, frontline fodder for the 'Void Demons', or as the Calsharans called them, the 'Scourge'.
This thing had a black skullcap also fused to its head, covering its eyes. The slit through which it sighted glowed a stark red, and no doubt there was some form of heads-up display within. This creature, this 'soldier', had been designed with nothing more than fighting in mind. And fight it did, hitting the wall by Natalia's side of the doorway with another hissing blast of energy. She returned the favour, this time landing her shot in the creature's neck.
The neck opened up with a bloody gash and dark, black blood spurted freely. The creature appeared to stumble, its mouth opening and closing rapidly as if it was attempting to call out. Yet there was no fear evident on its face, just a seeming confusion as its life suddenly departed it. The soldier fell into a heap within the corridor, viscous black blood pooling around it. John, rubbing his neck and feeling the small blisters that had appeared where the alien energy had struck him, leaned about the doorway and took an extended look at the creature.
"What the hell is that?" Daniel poked his head around, eyes falling upon the dead soldier. John did not reply, they had no time to discuss the finer details as to what they were fighting. Instead, he turned to Daniel and Natalia, both of whom wore grim expressions.
"You two, grab that dead Herald. We're taking it with us." If it was dead, then the threat it posed would not be quite so dangerous. Daniel appeared to be about to counter him, but another explosion from somewhere above them quelled his second thoughts. He moved for the cell's control panel and with a few button presses, he had the cell doors unlocked and open.
John watched the corridor as the pair attempted to lift the mostly headless Herald up by the arms and legs. Daniel winced slightly as the ragged stump of a neck expelled a small torrent of blood as he took it under the arms, and some of that fell across his boots. Natalia took the legs and, somewhat awkwardly, the pair began to carry it out of the room.
John led the way back to the ground level. By now, Aithris had activated the stargate within the large warehouse-type space. The portal rippled within the ancient stone ring, blue-white light dancing about the metal surfaces all around it. Elsie was waiting there with him, and both had their sights set on the loading bay doors at the other end of the warehouse space. As John and the others raced into the room, those doors suddenly exploded open, both of them being torn from their moorings in a flash of orange flame and thick grey smoke.
More of the armoured soldiers appeared, their arm cannons firing. Aithris and Elsie returned the gesture, crouched amongst the metal crates scattered before the active stargate. John came running over, a few of the swirling orange blasts zipping past him closer than he would have preferred. Behind him, Natalia and Daniel hobbled in with the headless Herald between them.
"You send the code through?" John asked the Nomad, shouting in an attempt to be heard over the thunder of his battle rifle.
"Already done. We're good to go." Aithris ceased fire and ducked behind a crate. A blast of swirling energy struck the top of the container, throwing up a spray of red orange sparks and blobs of molten metal. He glanced at the dead Herald held between Natalia and Daniel, and his expression noticeably soured. "Is that…?"
"A trophy," John remarked. He stayed low with Aithris, and with a hurried gesture he sent Daniel and Natalia on ahead. The others provided cover fire as the pair went on through the wormhole, disappearing into the rippling blue energy. A few of the shots from the enemy followed them, which could cause trouble on the other end. Through the smoke ahead, where the doors had stood, John could make out at least four of the hulking soldiers. They all appeared similar, with the same mix of organic matter and fused armour, with their arm-borne cannons firing away.
John patted Aithris on the shoulder.
"Go on, I'll keep you covered." John slammed a fresh magazine into his M4 as he spoke. Aithris turned to him, nodded, and then went to move for the stargate at their rear. Elsie was nearby, her M110 mounted on a container. Another shot blasted from its barrel, this one striking one of the hulking enemy fighters in the chest. This seemed to stumble it, and somewhere along its armoured shell a small dent had been made. John took note of this, that the higher-calibre cartridges seemed more effective.
"Lieutenant, we're leaving!" With Aithris through, it was just the two of them. He had to wonder what had become of the natives here on Bedrosia, for they had been abandoned by one occupier just to have another, more alien one arrive in their stead. And somehow, John got the impression that this enemy was not in the business of simply subjugating the locals and helping themselves to the planet's natural resources. The Void Demons, the galaxy's newest 'Scourge', had other things in mind for the human natives of Bedrosia.
It was something to contemplate another time. Elsie took up her rifle and ducked behind the container. Another blast of energy struck the floor near her, throwing up a flash of orange flame and an eruption of searing concrete dust. John nodded for the stargate and its still swirling wormhole. She moved when he did, and the two of them sprinted up the short gangway ramp and into the standing pool of energy, the enemy hot on their heels and their weapons casting fiery trails through the air behind them.