The Final Stand
Bogglesteinsky
Join Date: 2002-12-24 Member: 11488Members
Join Date: 2002-12-24 Member: 11488Members
<div class="IPBDescription">my first real attempt at fan-fic</div> The commander sat in his chair, the screams still echoing inside his head. Everything was going so well. He had studied the layout of the base on the drop ship. His squad knew exactly what to do; they were a well-oiled machine. The relocation to one of the areas of high infestation in an attempt to deny the aliens the third hive had worked but there were too many of them. Every time they set up a resource tower to collect and purify the nano sludge for their research and equipment, the aliens had destroyed it. They had managed to save enough to get high level weapons and some heavy armour but by then it was too late. The aliens had a second hive up and soon the warrior class Fades were destroying their base. After the few Heavy armours had fallen, there was nothing they could do. The base was wiped out in minutes. Reinforcements met their death before they even had a chance to re-orientate themselves. Now, it was only him. He knew exactly what was going on outside, even if the nano gridlock prevented him from seeing it, he could hear it. The chomping of strong jaws, the splashes as the fades' symbiotic organic rocket launcher spewed acid at the command chair. Not long now...
"Ah, to hell with it," the commander said out loud. "If I’m going to go, I am going to take as many of them with me as possible." He got out of the comm. chair, the servos in his suit of heavy armour allowing him to climb on top. He swung his HMG off his shoulder and opened fire at the skulks below him. They were too busy biting away to notice that he had go out, and soon the hive mind had absorbed their consciousnesses. The fades, seeing the destruction caused by the commander quickly turned their attention towards him. They began advancing from behind a wall of acid. The powerful HMG cut through their flesh and they started to falter. One fell, but the rest kept coming.
His ammo counter on his HUD was counting down the rounds. There was a sharp click as the trigger pulled on an empty magazine. He struggled to reload it but the fades were on him now, his armour was now just a big weight on his shoulders. More skulks poured though the door, running across the floor. One of them leapt at him, letting out an unearthly scream, its front claws pointing directly towards his heart. The force of the impact knocked him off the chair and he fell onto his back. The loud squish as he crushed a skulk when he landed was the last thing he heard...
I do have the next part in the making, if you like this enough i may even post it. comments and suggestions please.
"Ah, to hell with it," the commander said out loud. "If I’m going to go, I am going to take as many of them with me as possible." He got out of the comm. chair, the servos in his suit of heavy armour allowing him to climb on top. He swung his HMG off his shoulder and opened fire at the skulks below him. They were too busy biting away to notice that he had go out, and soon the hive mind had absorbed their consciousnesses. The fades, seeing the destruction caused by the commander quickly turned their attention towards him. They began advancing from behind a wall of acid. The powerful HMG cut through their flesh and they started to falter. One fell, but the rest kept coming.
His ammo counter on his HUD was counting down the rounds. There was a sharp click as the trigger pulled on an empty magazine. He struggled to reload it but the fades were on him now, his armour was now just a big weight on his shoulders. More skulks poured though the door, running across the floor. One of them leapt at him, letting out an unearthly scream, its front claws pointing directly towards his heart. The force of the impact knocked him off the chair and he fell onto his back. The loud squish as he crushed a skulk when he landed was the last thing he heard...
I do have the next part in the making, if you like this enough i may even post it. comments and suggestions please.
Comments
Next Part:
An Inquiry was ordered and a full report was published. It was handed to the President when he entered the North American Branch of his office at 09:00 on Tuesday morning.
Report of the inquiry into the events onboard the UEF NCY-Class Cargo Freighter "The Intrepid" on the 16th of August (GSD 48-36)
On the above date, a distress call was received from The Intrepid, along with a short vocal message. Transcript below:
[Transmission Start: 22:43 28-36]
"This is captain Peter Klaxon of the NCY-Class freighter The Intrepid. The aliens have invaded our ship and are attacking my crew. A TSA squad that was onboard was sent to stop them but they have failed. I have sealed myself in the cockpit but it wont be long until they break through. I can hear them pounding on the door"
There is a loud scream and then a large crash
"The door just bent, its about to break"
There is another crash, louder than the first then the sound of splintering metal
"ITS BROKEN. OH MY GOD THAT THING IS HUGE. TELL MY WIFE I LOVE…."
[Transmission End: 22:46]
It is believed that the infestation got onboard from a drop ship that was returning a squad from a successful mission on the planetary station of Hera. The ship docked at 14:56 19-36.
Due to the advanced nanite technology on the NCY class ships, the engines can maintain themselves, however, a mechanic does a quick check-up every two months (or 60 galactic days). The last check-up was on the day before, on the 6th of August (18-36 Galactic Standard Date)
The long period before the next scheduled check gave the alien infestation plenty of time to construct a hive. The first sign of something being wrong was the sudden power loss from the port engine. A mechanic was sent to have a look and he reported the extent of the infestation before he became the aliens’ first victim.
The TSA crew were quickly dispatched, but the human cockiness was to be their downfall. They had underestimated their enemy, they were complacent. They didn’t stand a chance.
The president put the report on the table and fell back in his chair with a sigh.
It was ironic. The aim of the human race in the past 50 years had been to conquer new planets and solar systems. They were the ones who were conquered. The Hera Planetary station was most likely back under alien control now, the Intrepid was the last human presence in deep space, it was on its way home.
“Mr President sir?” He looked up to find out who was talking. “Mr President, I think you should see this” Joe Austin, one of the tech boys was holding out a file. He took it and opened it.
your story=pwn
I like how you tied in Hera <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
give me more
the more obsevant of you may have noticed that there is another map mentioned in the story
see if you can find it
[edit] ok, i sorted the spelling, i hope that makes it easire to understand. next part will be coming soon, watch this space... [/edit]
“As you can see from the ships logs, its heading puts it on a direct course for Earth with all the aliens onboard. The good news is that the infestation is so developed on the port engine that it can no longer function, preventing the ship from entering hyperspace. This means that, instead of the ship arriving in a few hours its ETA is the 20th of August, 4 days from today, on Saturday at about 3 pm. The ships automated defences will destroy anything that poses a threat so we cannot just blow it up. Once the ship gets near to the earth, the computerised docking systems will land the ship and once the seal is breached, the infestation could spread anywhere the wind carries it. I don’t have to go into detail about what the consequences would be if the infestation took hold, but lets just say that we could be seeing much more deadly creatures as, with the huge amount of viable locations, the Kharaa will not be restricted to just three hives.”
The president was horrified at the possibilities but he didn’t show it. “What are the options?”
“I know what we do” the voice came from his left. It was Alex Reynolds, the trigger-happy Commander-in-chief of the UEF Forces. “NUKE THE ****!”
“I told you, that wouldn’t work. The automated defences will destroy anything that poses a threat”
“Be quiet Alex.” The president was frustrated at his attitude. Who hired him anyway? “What do you suggest then Joe?”
“Send in the TSA”
“What a load of monkey. It was them that got us into this mess in the first place”
“I said be quiet Alex. If you have something to say, follow proper procedure.” The president turned to Joe. “Is that the only option?”
“Well, we could wait until the ship lands and then try to contain the spread, but that will not work”
“Which is why we should nuke them”
“ALEX. GET OUT OF THIS OFFICE AT ONCE.” Alex got up slowly, and walked out, muttering to himself.
”Ok then, lets do it. Send in the TSA”
let's get crackin!
*watches as TSA are sent in*
Part 4
In an office far away, a vidiphone rang. The man answered it and the face of a beautiful woman appeared on the screen.
“Hello Teddy”
“Hello Honey. I thought I asked you not to call me at work”
“I know, I’m sorry Teddy. I just missed you.”
“I missed you too honey.”
“I love you Teddy”
“I lov-“
The door burst open.
“Sir, the president is on line 5”
“Thank you Carter. I’ve got to go now honey. I love you”
He switched lines and the president’s grim face appeared on the screen.
“Jack. What’s going on?”
“Nice to see you Ed. Have you heard about the fiasco on the Intrepid?”
“I’ve got the report right here. It’s a shame about Donaldson, he was one of my best men.”
“Then you know what I am calling about.”
“The ship is going to land on Earth, releasing the bacterium into the environment making it impossible to contain. Austin talked to me already.”
“Then you know what I am going to ask you to do.”
“With all due respect sir, if Donaldson and his squad failed, there is nobody who can succeed.”
“What about you?”
“Sir, I haven’t been in active duty in over 5 years. I doubt I would be of any use.”
“You are the only one left who has a hope of pulling this off Ed. You said so yourself.”
“It would be suicide. The ship is so heavily infested and the kharaa have already been able to raise three hives. Nothing we have got can match those Onos.”
“I’m not asking you to defeat them.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“For that, I’d better hand you over to Joe. He’s the one who knows what he’s talking about.”
<b>i've got the rest of the plot worked out in general. just need to beef it up a bit otherwise it would be over in about 3 lines.
i may add a twist, i may not. i haven't decided yet tbh</b>
more!
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part 5
“Aten-shun!”
The clatter of boost on metal was different this time; there was something in the air. They had all heard the rumours, and if you pieced together everything you were told you would get a story that was not far from the truth. Thank god it hadn’t spread to the press yet. That was all they needed. World-wide panic because a handful of men (and women, mustn’t forget Sandy) in a light blue uniform was all that was standing between them and total destruction.
“At ease men.”
He was proud of them. The mission had been volunteer only and they all turned up. He knew they would but he was still pleased.
They sat down, listening, waiting for what they knew was about to happen. The inevitable was just around the corner. They could feel it, each and every one of them. They felt it from their steel caps of their boots right up to the emblem on their helmets, from their breastplates right into their soul. Something big was going down and, like it or not, they were going to be a part of it.
“Alright, first things first. The rumours you have been hearing are true. There is a heavily infested ship and it is on its way to earth. The TSA are the only ones who have a hope of stopping it. Now for some good news.”
Their faces brightened, he carried on.
“Due to the vital importance of this mission, the bureaucrats have decided to release the purse strings. This means that you can have any equipment you want. There are some forms on the table at the back. Fill out your request and we will have your equipment ready for you when we re-convene here at 10:00 hrs”
The men’s spirits lifted at the mention of the equipment. They became more animated, exchanging glances. The more attentive one were sitting quietly and thinking.
Ed knew what exactly they were thinking. Why? Why has the TSA loosed the strings? Why was it volunteer only? The more pessimistic had a third question. Why did I volunteer? The poor fools Ed thought to himself. If only they knew. If only they knew.
“OK men, get those forms filled out and hand them into Bill at the door. Be back here at 10:00 hrs”
He didn’t need the request forms. He knew what they were going to choose anyway. Heck, he could have had the equipment ready yesterday but, despite the urgent nature of the mission, he still had to wade through miles of red tape.
“Here are the forms Sir.” Bill saluted smartly.
Ed returned the salute and asked him to run them down to the quartermaster’s office.
They saluted again and Bill hurried off.
Ed turned to Jo
“It was good of you to fly over at such short notice. I hope the jet lag isn’t too bad for you”
“No sir, I slept well on the way over. Those pills really knock you out like a light.”
“I know the feeling.”
He laughed then his face grew deadly serious.
“I hope you realise you are jeopardising my whole mission.”
“I’m sorry sir. I appreciate the risks but there is no other way”
“Well, unless you want to go in vanilla you had better run one of those forms down the quartermaster’s office ASAP.”
good work, also you've made it so they can all go in with HA hmg JP etc
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10:00
They were here, all lined up, waiting.
Ed walked in and saluted, followed by Bill, a couple of rookies and the QM.
“Alright men, Listen up. I will call your names and you will come and collect your equipment. You will go and stand back in line with your equipment and will wait until further instructions.”
Ed went and stood over by the QM and picked up the list.
“Jones. Brent. Rush. McCreedy. Leminoux. Bachon. Lee. O’Flaherty. Ritter. Wingert. Sperry. Wilson.”
One by one the men walked up and took the pile of equipment given to them by the QM.
“Alright men. You have 10 minutes to get into your gear and do all safety checks. We are on the dropship in 15 minutes.”
10:20
The servos in the Heavy Armour suits and the hiss of the jetpacks could be heard coming across the landing pad towards the dropship. The pilot looked out the window at the line of heavy metal advancing slowly. “Poor ****” he thought. None of his recent drops had left any survivors for him to pick up again, and here he was taking another group of wanna-be machos to their death. The strain was beginning to show on the mans face as squad after squad went out, not to return. He pushed the thought from his mind and continued with his safety checks. “Life support?”
His co pilot read the gauge “check”
“Gyro stabiliser?”
“Go”
“Engine performance”
“We have a go”
The men crammed into the transport ship and the cabin assistant shut the door. “Ready for lift-off sir.”
The pilot pushed the throttle to the limit, the powerful engines roared and the craft rose above the pad into the sky. The men were chatting to each other as if they were going for a drive down to the beach on a hot summers day while the pilot engaged the hyper drive and the ship zoomed into the continuum.
A few minutes passed until the autopilot brought the ship back onto impulse engines and they got their first look at the ship.
At first glance there didn’t appear to be anything wrong with it. It was just a black hulk drifting slowly through space. If a nearby star hadn’t illuminated it, they would have missed it altogether.
The pilot brought the ship in close and performed the difficult docking procedure. They heard the hiss as the airlock engaged then the door opened and the men stepped into the holding chamber. The door closed behind them and the second door opened. The men readied their weapons and stepped into the ship.
Planning on finishing it any time soon?