Alien Menace

I yelled with pain. One of the drones managed to hit me in the shoulder as I shot from cover. I saw Nicodeme shouting something at me and just waved to say that it was fine. A shot form the mecha on the other hand would have left me without an arm or worse. We had been making our way back towards the entrance of the facility. Both the mecha and the drones kept firing on us all the way. I figured at that point it was better to leave the area and regroup before attempting to complete our objective. I pointed to the entrance and we both ran for it. There was a whirring sound behind us and the top of the mecha began glowing in a strange green light. Nicodeme suddenly grabbed me and we both flew to the ground. The same moment a large beam of green light shot out from the mecha and into the wall above us. It was only pulsed on for a split second but it was enough for the wall to start collapsing. We scurried away and found another cover. The exit was completely blocked.

“We have to do it,” Nicodeme said. “There is no way out.”

“I see that. Let’s move. We need a plan,” I spoke through gritted teeth as my arm felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly. “How do we disable the artefact?”

“I can manage it. I just need to contact it again,” Nicodeme said. I gave him a flat look. “I can do it. I got a feel for it the last time but I was taken over.” I didn’t know whether it was harder to believe that he would do as he said, or that he would be able to do it at all.

“What about the control system?” I asked. Nicodeme smiled and pulled out a small package from his coat.

“This explosive is enough to blow up any of those systems. The combined effect of tampering with the artefact and blowing up the control system should destroy everything in the room.”

I wanted to point out that we were one of the things in the room, but a more immediate problem was the fact that we couldn’t move out of cover for any substantial length of time. We had to move a lot since cover kept getting destroyed in attacks from the mecha and that meant we were also running out of time. Luckily the destruction itself also created new opportunities for cover but not as fast as they were being destroyed.

“We’re running out of time,” I said. “How do we do it?”

“I can probably throw the explosive from cover if we get near enough, the artefact is more difficult.”

“What happens if we only do that?”

“It won’t do more than temporarily stop the process. The control system should be easily replaceable. The artefact is the more important part. It will close the portal and probably get destroyed in the process.”

After almost getting vaporised again the entire building began to shake. A cracking sound came from the centre.

“The portal is starting to expand. We have to do something now,” Nicodeme said.

“Let’s make a break for the artefact,” I said. I was almost out of ammunition as I shot up at the drones. I ran straight for the pedestal. Suddenly I saw a man a couple of metres in front of me. He ran for the pedestal as well, then put his hands up as if to protect himself before just fading away.

“Take cover!” I shouted, grabbing Nicodeme and throwing myself to the side. Another green beam shot out from the mecha and obliterated the exact place where I had seen the figure before. I had little time to ponder the significance of possibly altering my own destiny as we ran back towards cover. A sharp pain in my leg sent me sprawling in the debris. I dragged myself behind a chunk of concrete as bullets kept flying all around. Nicodeme was in a similar position behind a different improvised cover.

“Are you OK?” He asked.

“Just a leg. I can probably still run. You?” Only then I noticed that he had a hand pressed against his side. I felt the cold grip of dread.

“It’s not too deep. I can still go on. I just don’t know how we’ll get there.”

It was a sentiment I had begun to share at that point. I was about to suggest we at least delay the inevitable by using the explosive in whatever way, when I was stopped by the hall shaking once more. This time it felt like it was coming from the side rather than the centre.

“What is it now?” I asked in a defeated tone.

I was answered by a loud explosion that created a large hole in the wall near to the original entrance. When the sound of crashing debris died down I could hear the roaring of petrol engines. It was a sound I had almost never heard in the Zone, but was familiar enough to me from before. A moment later 4 people in a formation rushed inside. They began firing at the drones and the mecha. Not long after several more people entered the building. The sounds of conventional assault rifles and coil guns as well echoed.

The alien scourge didn’t hold back either. They concentrated fire on the newly arrived combatants. I couldn’t understand how such a horde of unexpected fighters could show up from nowhere but I wasn’t about to complain.

“Nicodeme,” I shouted and got his attention. “This is it, we have to get to the artefact.”

He nodded but before we could do anything else, a metallic groan came from the centre of the room. The portal had become even wider. To my horror things began coming here from the other side. It looked like drones, mecha suits and even hideous organic creatures, though different from the mutants of the Zone. I waved and shouted to get the attention of the newcomers. When one took note of me, I pointed to myself then to the artefact. He nodded. Then I pointed to him and to the mecha and the portal. He gave me a thumbs-up and they all did seem to redouble their shooting efforts but it was hardly enough for the incoming threat. Before I completely lost my confidence, there was a sudden explosion at the base of the portal. Followed by another next to the mecha. I looked back and saw several of them holding rocket and grenade launchers. The barrage of explosions continued and one of the grenades even went through the portal.

“Go,” I shouted to Nicodeme. We both got up though I almost fell back down as the pain in the leg reminded me of the wound. I gritted my teeth and dragged myself to my feet. I looked at Nicodeme and saw him struggling in a similar way as he continued holding his side. One of the legs of the exoskeleton was twisted in a strange way and was giving him trouble. I limped towards him and put my good arm around him and he did the same. Together we rushed towards artefact once again. This time most of the fire was drawn away by the ever increasing human force. The mecha didn’t seem particularly bothered even by the constant bombardment but at least it was kept busy. It kept using it’s devastating energy attack and I heard the people screaming as each of them happened. In most cases the screaming ones were the ones not hit by it though some lucky ones seemed to only lose a limb to it. As we approached the pedestal with the artefact, Nicodeme handed me the explosive.

“It’s set to 10 minutes. Go!”

I took the device and left Nicodeme. He stumbled and almost fell onto the artefact. The artefact began buzzing and glowing in a green light. I entrusted Nicodeme with the portal and ran towards the towering mecha. It was a terrifying feeling, running straight towards the thing that would do its best to kill you. There were even some explosions still going off around it but not as many as before. I got as close as I dared before hefting the explosive and preparing for the most critical throw of my life with my one good arm. I shouted to pump myself up as I began the throw and then kept screaming as a bullet passed through my arm. The explosive tumbled uselessly to the ground next to me. I desperately tried to grab it but my arms wouldn’t obey. With another shot I just collapsed to the ground.

In some strange way the pain no longer mattered. The problem was that my body just felt to weak to move. I tried getting up but dropped right back down. For some reason I was having difficulties trying to remember what exactly I was supposed to do even though it felt like it was important. Not as important as getting a little rest. I began to close my eyes.

A slap to the face brought me back.

“Wha?” I mumbled. Two of the soldiers stood above me. One of them was holding my explosive. They were pointing and shouting. I shook my head. “What?”

“Where do we put this?” Do we need to do anything to it?” He was holding the bomb right in front of my face.

“Throw it,” I said in a weak voice. It took all the strength I had to raise my arm and point. The pain made my mind sharper. “Over there. That big device. As close as possible.”

The man nodded and threw the explosive. It was the most accurate throw I had ever witnessed. The men didn’t stop to celebrate. One of them grabbed me by the legs and the other under my arms. Pain exploded in my head. They didn’t seem to mind and they began running away from the site towards the newly created entrance of the facility. I craned my neck back and saw that the portal had become a tight slit once more and was diminishing. I couldn’t see Nicodeme anywhere. They carried me past squads of soldiers that were still engaged in combat. As we passed them, they began walking behind us and kept shooting. Orders were being shouted and I saw several more people being dragged out. Many of them had grave wounds or were perhaps already dead. I wasn’t able to concentrate as my consciousness began to fade.