Colonists - Leader, part 11
UNEXPLORED CAVE SYSTEM
12 KILOMETERS SOUTHEAST OF BREVITY COLONY
July 24, 2186
The Power Assault Frame worn by the Infantrymen has multi-spectral imaging which allowed the human soldiers to see in the stony environment which had possibly never seen the light of a sun. The four-man squad was several hundred meters into the caves now, their radios having cut out a couple hundred meters back. There wasn’t anything to be done about it now. They had a civilian to find.
Besides the boot there had been other evidence that the man had been brought back down this way. A torn piece of fabric, probably from a shirt or pants, had been found about 50 meters back. The cave system was obviously used as there had been signs of animal carcasses in here before from days not too long in the past. Whatever had grabbed Anthony Drake wasn’t an herbivore.
Lesniski was behind the point man, 1st Private Brown, who was moving at a cautious but not leisurely pace. The man had kept his rifle up, the group clearing corners with proper discipline. There had, thankfully, not been too many tight spaces to squeeze through. Whatever kind animal used this cave wasn’t small.
“Sergeant, look there,” Brown called over the radio. He illuminated his helmet lights and pointed at the carcass of a one of the so-called “space cows.” The animal had been ripped apart, violently, by something. It was recognizable because its head and thick neck were intact. Not much else though: the bones of the thick legs were exposed; its ribcage had the flesh and muscle mostly torn clean off.
“Drakes are cattle ranchers,” Lesniski said. He looked at the carcass which was, obviously, still pretty fresh. The blood from its center stomach area having been torn open was still wet.
“Whatever did this wasn’t some small animal, Sergeant. You sure about this?” Asked Private Kristoff.
Lesniski wasn’t sure but he said, “Looks like we’re moving the right way. Stay frosty. Move up.”
Brown did so. Lesniski followed, taking the right-hand side of the tunnel so the pair were side by side. After several more twists and turns Brown slowed down and stopped. He said, “Listen to the audio sensors.”
Lesniski adjusted his helmet’s HUD to look at the wave signs. There was a repetitive tapping sound, at a nearly consistent interval.
“Keep moving, might be our man tapping on the wall or something – maybe he can’t call for help,” Lesniski ordered.
Just a couple minutes more and the fireteam stepped into a larger opening. It wasn’t the end of the cave tunnel, but it was a stretch that could have all four Infatrymen stand shoulder-to-shoulder. It dipped down a bit into a pit where the source of the tapping sound was made apparent. It wasn’t tapping at all. It was a slurping or licking sound being made by some hairy, four-legged creature as it sucked on the bones of another one of the cows which had been abducted.
“Sergeant, there’s our man to the right,” Corporal Xinx called. Lesniski looked over to see the man bound up in some shell made of… well God knew what the hell it was made of. His feet were sticking out along with his head. Several of the cows were in here too, some awake, some not. Those that were awake were thrashing their heads and tails about wildly, occasionally snorting in distress, but their efforts were wasted as they too were encased in the strange resin-like cocoon. Thanks to the spectral sensors the Infantry could see Drake was awake and stressed. He knew something was going on in the cave but couldn’t tell what.
Lesniski motioned for Xinx and Kristoff to go get him and said over the radio, “Be quiet about it. I don’t want this little monster hearing us if we can avoid it.”
The creature’s legs stuck out from its body like a spider, had fur like a bear, and was elongated like a dog. He couldn’t see its face as its hindquarters was facing them. It had a long head though, buried deep into the eviscerated guts of a space cow. Lesniski kept his weapon trained on the feasting animal while his Infantry went to work.
Xinx leaned over the cocooned man while Kristoff circled to the other side. They were just going to pick him up, maybe carry him out a way. Trying to break off whatever that crap on him was would only alert the little monster to their presence.
Brown said into the radio, “Sir, there’s no way something that little grabbed Drake and a dozen cows. There has to be a lot of them.”
“Or one that’s really big,” Lesniski said.
“I’m not sure which idea is worse,” Brown said.
The two Infantry moving the immobile Drake lifted his cocooned form up. The man was trying his best not to scream while also half-mumbling, seemingly as he began to hyperventilate. Lesniski didn’t have a way of letting the man know that he was being carried by Infantry without also letting the other animal know they were here.
He didn’t get a choice as the hardened cocoon scraped on some extruding piece or stone. It made an overly loud clawing sound for a half second. The previously occupied animal jerked its head free from the cow’s belly and turned its head to face the direction of the two Infantry and Drake. It could obviously see them in pitch-black cave. Lesniski cocked his head to sight in on the animal and it turned to look at him too. Outnumbered, four to one, it climbed spider-like over the cow’s corpse and began bellowing this an odd warbling screech. Drake was shouting at the sudden deafening gunshot in the confined cave. His adrenaline was maxed out right now and he was helpless, terror was overcoming him. It was possible he was about to go into shock.
Lesniski fired a single shot and splatted the pseudo-spider's brains and green-blooded skull all over the wall, “Damn that thing was ugly.”
He then switched to his external speaker, “Mr. Drake, I’m Sergeant Lesniski with the Infatry. We’re glad we found you.”
“Oh my God! Help me! I can’t move!” the man was now screeching.
“Calm down, Mr. Drake. You’re wrapped up in some kind of cocoon. I’m going to see if we can cut you free,” Lesniski said. He went on to his Infantry, “Brown: cover that other tunnel. Xinx, Kristoff: see if you can tear that shit off him and get him moving.”
Brown stepped over to the shot animal. Its face had four front-facing eyes, the bullet entering the top of the elongated head. Brown mused, “Looks kinda like a dog and kinda like a spider. It's got a dog’s head, at least. Mostly. Not as cute though.”
“Stow it, Brown. Watch that damn tunnel,” Lesniski said as he backed up into the tunnel they’d come from. He didn’t know if there was some other passage the little monsters could use to flank them, so he wanted to keep an eye on their only known exit route.
There was a cracking and rending sound as Xinx and Kristoff were tearing off chunks of what looked like hardened sap. It sort-of sounded like wood being torn off in strips. The two Infantry were making good progress, having him halfway free, when Brown spoke up again.
“We got incoming!” he shouted and ran back into the larger room. Slipping and sliding through with four abnormally long legs was a much, much larger dog-spider thing. This one had curved horns, like that of an Earth ram, coming out the sides of its head.
“Holy shit,” Lesniski said unintentionally. It got free from the tunnel and stood up on its rear legs, the front legs having 4 or 5 inch long claws. The thing was bigger than a brown bear but just as shaggy. It bellowed a mighty roar, pissed off to see the intruders.
“Open fire!” Lesniski shouted. For several seconds fully automatic fire from two rifles sent armor-piercing rounds into the animal. It roared in agony and fury as it backed up under the rapturous onslaught. The creature couldn’t handle the withering fire for long and collapsed onto the ground thrashing in pain.
Brown took another couple of steps back. The bear-dog-spider was coughing up blood and crying angrily at the offending Infantry as it died. The Sergeant said, “Put it out of its misery, Brown. No need to let it suffer.”
Brown fired a single additional shot into the monster’s head to silence it. It was eerily quiet then. All the Infantry had stopped moving to listen to the environment.
“Sub-sonics are picking up more noise; something else is moving in the tunnels,” Xinx said.
“He’s going into shock!” Kristoff said. Lesniski looked at the civilian who was wide-eyed, starting to shake, and was turning pale.
“External lights on, let’s get clear of this place. Fireman carry his ass out of here, Brown you bring up the rear!” Lesniski said. He took point during their egress through the cave tunnels.
Along the way Brown and Xinx had stopped to open fire on some pursuing monster. The pair could quickly catch back up to them once the immediate threat had been neutralized. A couple times the men had needed to squeeze the half de-cocooned Drake through a tight spot but managed to get him through without any additional major injuries.
Lesniski had been calling out to Pharaoh along the way, “Dropship One do you copy?”
On his fourth or fifth try, when they were close enough back to the surface he finally got a reply, “I’ve got you, Sergeant. What the hell happened; you’ve stirred up the locals really bad.”
“We need emergency dust-off. We have our man. Be ready as soon as we bust loose from this cave!” Lesniski said.
“If I can land, these critters are everywhere,” she said, “Started coming out of the other cave entrances a few minutes ago, almost swarmed my dropship.”
“Shoot to kill, Pharaoh! They are extremely hostile!” Lesniski called.
“Copy that, I’ll be ready for you.” the collected voice of the female pilot said.
Before much longer Lesniski could hear the thundering sounds of the Dropship’s Kyu-class anti-ship laser and anti-personnel Gatling gun thundering away in controlled bursts. Back on even ground, but not quite to the entrance, he could see another one of the animals blocking the exit. It had its back to Lesniski who took full advantage and shot the animal several times. It jerked and danced out of the entrance.
“We’re here, Pharaoh!” Lesniski called, “Twenty meters to the cave mouth!”
As Lesniski got closer, his Infantry and the carried civilian behind him, he could see the second dropship had come in. The pilot of that craft, “Grayhawk” as he was called, was holding position and unloading the Gatling gun towards the cave entrances off to his left. Pharaoh brought her bird down just a few meters from the entrance, not even touching the ground. The side personnel door slid open and Lesniski helped Kristoff load the now-unconscious man inside the aircraft. Xinx and Brown bounded up into the vessel and Lesniski was the last one in.
“We’re in, let’s go,” he hollered up. The dropship pilot gunned the thrusters.
He heard her call over the radio, “Dropship Two we’re clear. Quit wasting ammo.”
“Dropship Two is breaking off,” returned the male pilot’s voice. Flight Lieutenant First Class Tristan Rosario was the pilot’s real name.
Lesniski checked on the civilian who was now in a state of shock. The man’s eyes were rolled up into his head, his arms splayed out wide as Xinx administered first aid. The corporal said out loud, “Pharaoh call ahead to base: we need a medical team immediately. This man’s in shock.”
“Copy that,” Pharaoh said and then changed the radio frequency. She could still be heard from the cockpit as she said, “Air Control this is Pharaoh. We have our VIP but he’s in shock. Need immediate medical attention. ETA seven minutes.”
“Copy that, Dropship One. Medical teams are standing by. Any other injuries?” the detached voice at the other end said.
“Negative. No wounded,” she replied.
“Understood. Lights are on and the gate is open. See you soon,” said Air Control’s operator.
The image used was found after doing an online search for “sci-fi infantry.” Image hosted on https://futurewarstories.blogspot.com/2013/04/fws-topics-10-most-common-themes-in.html, provided to that site by iStock Photo (attributed to used enot-poloskun). I do not own any copyright thereto, nor is the work being produced for profit. The image is solely the property of the aforementioned groups.