Forsaken - Chapter 1
eediot
Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13903Members
<div class="IPBDescription">My first attempt at fanfic</div> Just a note - this is my first go at fanfic for ns, first for anything, actually. I haven't been playing ns for very long, please excuse me any liberties
that I may make with the NS world, as well as grammar and spelling.
------------------------------------------------
FORSAKEN - by eediot
Private Larkins paced out from the transport attack ship into the connection tube that doubled as a stasis chamber. He and his team would go out and give the all clear for the commander's chair to be wheeled out and installed, in preparation for the camp they'd set up. The Air Monitor gave a beep and glowed green, before a series of whirs and clicks signalled the opening of the gate into the building, accompanied with a loud scrape of metal on metal - this outpost planet obviously hadn't been attended to for quite some time.
He stepped out into the lobby, his Light Machine Gun at the ready, scanning the dark corners and entrances. Behind him were the eight men serving under him, LMGs and Pistols up and ready. Giving the all clear, Larkins nodded at the radioman to tell the engineers to get the Comm Chair up. He sent a few men to secure the area.
"Lance, get that hallway, and Tommy, weld that door shut! Wilson, take King and scout the vents. Radio contact every two minutes. Oh, and take a grenade launcher with you - this mission is going to be risky as hell. The rest of you, get behind that desk and provide cover."
Larkins slung his LMG over his back and reached into his pack for the mission briefing. His eyes darted across the paper, reading only the key sentences.
"Five years ago, all contact with this outpost was lost. Two years ago, a rescue team was sent in to find out what had gone wrong. They reported a complete absence of life in the immediate area, before an assumed technical fault rendered their spacecraft unable to fly, and their transmitter unable to recieve or send. They did not return, and no further contact has been made. The planet's orbit around their local sun is so extreme that for only a few days every two years is a spacecraft able to make the journey to the planet. Once on the planet, an outpost was set up that allowed humans to live on it. However, it is assumed that the Kharaa have infected this outpost. Do not expect any human survivors - food sources are predicted to have run out at least two years ago."
Then there was a lot of information on the planet's position, which Larkins had skipped - he had no dealings with that. He was only needed to do one thing - kill the aliens. He put away the briefing.
A voice called out to him from across the room - a marine, Nickols. "Hey Larkins! What's the deal with this place? It looks like it's been deserted for months!"
Larkins shook his head slowly, reaching again for his LMG. "Guess again, Nickols. This outpost has been empty for five years, except for two years ago, when a squad just like ours came here to check it out. They got lost as well."
Nickols cursed. "Five freakin' years?! You have GOT to be shitting me. The longest infestation I've ever seen was four months, back on TakkyTumult." The others grimaced, which Nikols noticed. "Damn straight, and you all remember as well. A freakin' army - ten squads send in to clear the area, with a risk rate of one. Ten squads went in, and we were the only ones who came out. Ten squads in, one out, and they told us before that it was an infant hive. It turned out to be two hives, definitely not infants. Ambush after ambush, then when we retreated we were caught in a crossfire between fades. Men screaming as their faces dissolved, while their team mates were gutted from every angle. It was a massacre, and when we finally returned to the ship, what did they do? They nuked the bloody planet. Ninty soldiers dead on a mission that was never going to work, with no commanders and only LMGs with half ammo." He nodded, his eyes wide and his skin pale, hands gripping his weapon tightly. "Four months, and one hundred soldiers. What have we got now? Ten men, and five bloody freakin' years. I don't like this one bit."
Larkins frowned. "Look at the evidence, Nickols. No sign of any Kharaa - the rooms so far are clear of infestation, and the monitors came up empty. It was probably just some unfortunate technical problems, and they starved to death. Give it a rest, we'll be out of here in a few hours. Set up the planetary teleporter, then let some other better trained, better equipped team scout the place. Incidentally, remember Ridere Eight? You were all for nuking the place that time, with your sixth sense, and it was just a bunch of rats chewing through wires. Let's just do our job, then leave."
The squad laughed, and Nickos was about to reply when a message came through the radio. Larkins hurried over.
"Yeah, Larkins, we haven't had any sign of any alien infestation so far. The whole place is falling down from disuse, and there are some signs of battle around, but you can't tell how old, so it might be irrelevent. Anyway, we've found a room that looks interesting, but we can't see much through the grate. Permission to go in?"
Larkins grimaced. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, go in. Constant radio contact - play it safe."
He wandered back to the ship entrance, trng to peer in, looking for signs of activity. "What's holding up the Comm Chair? We should be operational by now!"
The Head Engineer hurried over, a clear sheen of sweat covering his brow. He wiped it with his forearm. "There's a problem. You know the experimental technology implemented in our Comm chair? No, you wouldn't. Pretty much, it won't let itself be moved out of it's protective casing if there's alien infestation in the immediate area outside of the ship. No idea why it would think that, but supposedly it has some new scanning technology. We'll have to disable it before"
Larkins swore as the Head Enginner hastened back to the ship. He walked over to the radio, just as it crackled with an incoming message. "Larkins, you're never going to believe what we've just found. Remember all those rumours that the aliens came from TSA secret experiments?"
Larkins nodded slightly, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "They were just rumours, Wilson. Made by people who don't like us, to create distrust, doubt, and suspicion among the TSA ranks. Just a rumour."
Wilson shook his head slowly, his attention riveted on the trashed chamber. "Guess again, Larkins. And it looks like the buggers broke out. Problem is, there's no sign of them. Seems like the damn things just disappeared. They would have- Hang on, sir. Looks like King's found some sort of..It looks like a hanger door. Permssion to see what's on the other side?"
He frowned, fingering his LMG absentmindedly. "Okay, but recon only. You see anything bad, you hightail it out of there, FAST. Try not to make any noise - we have potential Kharaa in the area. Especially so since you found that... chamber. Be careful."
"Sure thing. Constant radio contact, eh? I'll give you a running commentary. Okay, looking, looking.. There's a- Oh. Nope, that's not it. We're hoping for either a working opening console that'll open it, or just a weak point in the door, or around it. It looks pretty run down, but surprisingly enough, we haven't found any bodies yet. Not even the normal blood- Ah! Found one. One sec, Larkins. Okay, King, stand back, I'm going to kick it in and have a look around. One, two, and-"
There was a crackle and a thump over the radio, then slight crunching. Then- silence.
Larkins whispered anxiously into the radio, knocking aside the Radio operaters hand as he reached for it. "Wilson? King? What's happened? Talk to me, what's the problem?"
A brief silence, then- "Oh, god, Larkins. This isn't just some science research lab... It's a **** hive world. Me and King are gonna get out of here slowly, and hope they haven't heard the- SHH! Don't move... King don't move.. Shh just stay quietly, maybe... No, hold it, hold it... ****! RUN! RUN, KING!"
Larkins stared, horrified, at the radio operator, radio clenched tightly in his hand, knuckles white. Between bursts of uncontrolled static, they heard the sound of pounding footsteps and heavy breathing. "They got king, the bloody- Three skulks, they got King, Oh God,"
Larkins broke out of his horrified stupor and shouted into the ship, unstrapping his LMG. "We've got alien activity, chasing after Wilson, in the vents. ETA... a minute."
An engineer came hurrying out, sweating profusely, obviously scared and not used to this sort of stress. Larkins noticed a personal pistol strapped to his belt, that hadn't been there before. The engineer's hand hovered near it as his eyes searched the room wildly. "We heard, we have another radio in the ship.
There's nothing we can do. Get back in the ship, we're leaving this god forsaken planet. We'll get it nuked from orbit once a proper attack ship comes."
When Larkins hesitated, his eyes swivelling back to the vents Wilson and King had crawled into, the enginner swore. "Now, darnit! Those doors will be closing in thirty seconds regardless of what side of them you're on. Make the decision. Wilson, or all of you." He headed back to the ship, ignoring Larkin and his protesting team.
The radio operator grabbed at Larkin's arm. Wilson was talking, and he hadn't even noticed. "- I don't know how much longer it'll take them to find me, I'm hiding in some side tunnel. I can hear them looking for me, I'm not going to make it Larkins. I know this. I've hooked up the grenade launcher to detonate all the grenades simultaneously... They're getting closer. Get out of here, while you still can. And watch out for the explosion, I'm not that far away."
"NO! Don't let me down, wilson!" Larkins cursed. "Get up, man. You said yourself you're not that far away. Get up, just sprint the last stretch, you can make it - the ship's waiting, you can make it."
He glanced back at the ship, to see the doors shutting slowly. "****! No, don't close the doors! Wilson, are you there? Can you hear me? Get out of there NOW, hurry up, you can still make it!"
Wilson shook his head slowly, propped up against the vent wall. He fingered a small wound in his stomach, looking down he saw a small hole where the parasite had burrowed in earlier. He could feel it, attacking his internal organs. With his other hand he patted the grenade launcer, watching the entrance warily. A skulk poked its head around a corner and stared at him. He leveled a pistol and loosed off a shot at it, missing. "It's been a pleasure serving under you sir. If you ever make it out of this hellhole, find my wife and kids and give them my love. Samantha." He gasped suddenly, doubled over, the parasite inside of him burrowing deeper, attacking vital organs. "Samantha Wilson. Lives on the Gaudium colony, sector 5. Thankyou, sir." He turned off the radio and loosed another volley of shots as the skulks rushed him. Turning onto his side, he reached over and pressed a button on the grenade launcher as the first of the skulks tore at his legs.
No more than fifty metres away, the shockwave almost blew Larkins off his feet. Cursing, his eyes burning with pain and anger, he turned to see the ship's doors clang shut. He sprinted over, breaking the circle the squad had formed around the radio. Pounding on the doors, he cursed blindly, hot tears burning his eyes. "Open up, damn you, he's dead, are you happy? Let us out of here, open up! Open up, **** it!" But he knew it was futile - already the ship could be hear flying away, rockets forcing it out of the atmosphere.
Turning back to his squad, their eyes wide and scared, he let go of his LMG and barely registered it clatter loudly on the metal floor. He slid to the ground, back against the cold lobby doors. They were trapped. Deep in the shadows, a skulk chuckled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
the end of chapter one.
edit: something screwed up. should be fixed now
that I may make with the NS world, as well as grammar and spelling.
------------------------------------------------
FORSAKEN - by eediot
Private Larkins paced out from the transport attack ship into the connection tube that doubled as a stasis chamber. He and his team would go out and give the all clear for the commander's chair to be wheeled out and installed, in preparation for the camp they'd set up. The Air Monitor gave a beep and glowed green, before a series of whirs and clicks signalled the opening of the gate into the building, accompanied with a loud scrape of metal on metal - this outpost planet obviously hadn't been attended to for quite some time.
He stepped out into the lobby, his Light Machine Gun at the ready, scanning the dark corners and entrances. Behind him were the eight men serving under him, LMGs and Pistols up and ready. Giving the all clear, Larkins nodded at the radioman to tell the engineers to get the Comm Chair up. He sent a few men to secure the area.
"Lance, get that hallway, and Tommy, weld that door shut! Wilson, take King and scout the vents. Radio contact every two minutes. Oh, and take a grenade launcher with you - this mission is going to be risky as hell. The rest of you, get behind that desk and provide cover."
Larkins slung his LMG over his back and reached into his pack for the mission briefing. His eyes darted across the paper, reading only the key sentences.
"Five years ago, all contact with this outpost was lost. Two years ago, a rescue team was sent in to find out what had gone wrong. They reported a complete absence of life in the immediate area, before an assumed technical fault rendered their spacecraft unable to fly, and their transmitter unable to recieve or send. They did not return, and no further contact has been made. The planet's orbit around their local sun is so extreme that for only a few days every two years is a spacecraft able to make the journey to the planet. Once on the planet, an outpost was set up that allowed humans to live on it. However, it is assumed that the Kharaa have infected this outpost. Do not expect any human survivors - food sources are predicted to have run out at least two years ago."
Then there was a lot of information on the planet's position, which Larkins had skipped - he had no dealings with that. He was only needed to do one thing - kill the aliens. He put away the briefing.
A voice called out to him from across the room - a marine, Nickols. "Hey Larkins! What's the deal with this place? It looks like it's been deserted for months!"
Larkins shook his head slowly, reaching again for his LMG. "Guess again, Nickols. This outpost has been empty for five years, except for two years ago, when a squad just like ours came here to check it out. They got lost as well."
Nickols cursed. "Five freakin' years?! You have GOT to be shitting me. The longest infestation I've ever seen was four months, back on TakkyTumult." The others grimaced, which Nikols noticed. "Damn straight, and you all remember as well. A freakin' army - ten squads send in to clear the area, with a risk rate of one. Ten squads went in, and we were the only ones who came out. Ten squads in, one out, and they told us before that it was an infant hive. It turned out to be two hives, definitely not infants. Ambush after ambush, then when we retreated we were caught in a crossfire between fades. Men screaming as their faces dissolved, while their team mates were gutted from every angle. It was a massacre, and when we finally returned to the ship, what did they do? They nuked the bloody planet. Ninty soldiers dead on a mission that was never going to work, with no commanders and only LMGs with half ammo." He nodded, his eyes wide and his skin pale, hands gripping his weapon tightly. "Four months, and one hundred soldiers. What have we got now? Ten men, and five bloody freakin' years. I don't like this one bit."
Larkins frowned. "Look at the evidence, Nickols. No sign of any Kharaa - the rooms so far are clear of infestation, and the monitors came up empty. It was probably just some unfortunate technical problems, and they starved to death. Give it a rest, we'll be out of here in a few hours. Set up the planetary teleporter, then let some other better trained, better equipped team scout the place. Incidentally, remember Ridere Eight? You were all for nuking the place that time, with your sixth sense, and it was just a bunch of rats chewing through wires. Let's just do our job, then leave."
The squad laughed, and Nickos was about to reply when a message came through the radio. Larkins hurried over.
"Yeah, Larkins, we haven't had any sign of any alien infestation so far. The whole place is falling down from disuse, and there are some signs of battle around, but you can't tell how old, so it might be irrelevent. Anyway, we've found a room that looks interesting, but we can't see much through the grate. Permission to go in?"
Larkins grimaced. Finally, he nodded. "Okay, go in. Constant radio contact - play it safe."
He wandered back to the ship entrance, trng to peer in, looking for signs of activity. "What's holding up the Comm Chair? We should be operational by now!"
The Head Engineer hurried over, a clear sheen of sweat covering his brow. He wiped it with his forearm. "There's a problem. You know the experimental technology implemented in our Comm chair? No, you wouldn't. Pretty much, it won't let itself be moved out of it's protective casing if there's alien infestation in the immediate area outside of the ship. No idea why it would think that, but supposedly it has some new scanning technology. We'll have to disable it before"
Larkins swore as the Head Enginner hastened back to the ship. He walked over to the radio, just as it crackled with an incoming message. "Larkins, you're never going to believe what we've just found. Remember all those rumours that the aliens came from TSA secret experiments?"
Larkins nodded slightly, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "They were just rumours, Wilson. Made by people who don't like us, to create distrust, doubt, and suspicion among the TSA ranks. Just a rumour."
Wilson shook his head slowly, his attention riveted on the trashed chamber. "Guess again, Larkins. And it looks like the buggers broke out. Problem is, there's no sign of them. Seems like the damn things just disappeared. They would have- Hang on, sir. Looks like King's found some sort of..It looks like a hanger door. Permssion to see what's on the other side?"
He frowned, fingering his LMG absentmindedly. "Okay, but recon only. You see anything bad, you hightail it out of there, FAST. Try not to make any noise - we have potential Kharaa in the area. Especially so since you found that... chamber. Be careful."
"Sure thing. Constant radio contact, eh? I'll give you a running commentary. Okay, looking, looking.. There's a- Oh. Nope, that's not it. We're hoping for either a working opening console that'll open it, or just a weak point in the door, or around it. It looks pretty run down, but surprisingly enough, we haven't found any bodies yet. Not even the normal blood- Ah! Found one. One sec, Larkins. Okay, King, stand back, I'm going to kick it in and have a look around. One, two, and-"
There was a crackle and a thump over the radio, then slight crunching. Then- silence.
Larkins whispered anxiously into the radio, knocking aside the Radio operaters hand as he reached for it. "Wilson? King? What's happened? Talk to me, what's the problem?"
A brief silence, then- "Oh, god, Larkins. This isn't just some science research lab... It's a **** hive world. Me and King are gonna get out of here slowly, and hope they haven't heard the- SHH! Don't move... King don't move.. Shh just stay quietly, maybe... No, hold it, hold it... ****! RUN! RUN, KING!"
Larkins stared, horrified, at the radio operator, radio clenched tightly in his hand, knuckles white. Between bursts of uncontrolled static, they heard the sound of pounding footsteps and heavy breathing. "They got king, the bloody- Three skulks, they got King, Oh God,"
Larkins broke out of his horrified stupor and shouted into the ship, unstrapping his LMG. "We've got alien activity, chasing after Wilson, in the vents. ETA... a minute."
An engineer came hurrying out, sweating profusely, obviously scared and not used to this sort of stress. Larkins noticed a personal pistol strapped to his belt, that hadn't been there before. The engineer's hand hovered near it as his eyes searched the room wildly. "We heard, we have another radio in the ship.
There's nothing we can do. Get back in the ship, we're leaving this god forsaken planet. We'll get it nuked from orbit once a proper attack ship comes."
When Larkins hesitated, his eyes swivelling back to the vents Wilson and King had crawled into, the enginner swore. "Now, darnit! Those doors will be closing in thirty seconds regardless of what side of them you're on. Make the decision. Wilson, or all of you." He headed back to the ship, ignoring Larkin and his protesting team.
The radio operator grabbed at Larkin's arm. Wilson was talking, and he hadn't even noticed. "- I don't know how much longer it'll take them to find me, I'm hiding in some side tunnel. I can hear them looking for me, I'm not going to make it Larkins. I know this. I've hooked up the grenade launcher to detonate all the grenades simultaneously... They're getting closer. Get out of here, while you still can. And watch out for the explosion, I'm not that far away."
"NO! Don't let me down, wilson!" Larkins cursed. "Get up, man. You said yourself you're not that far away. Get up, just sprint the last stretch, you can make it - the ship's waiting, you can make it."
He glanced back at the ship, to see the doors shutting slowly. "****! No, don't close the doors! Wilson, are you there? Can you hear me? Get out of there NOW, hurry up, you can still make it!"
Wilson shook his head slowly, propped up against the vent wall. He fingered a small wound in his stomach, looking down he saw a small hole where the parasite had burrowed in earlier. He could feel it, attacking his internal organs. With his other hand he patted the grenade launcer, watching the entrance warily. A skulk poked its head around a corner and stared at him. He leveled a pistol and loosed off a shot at it, missing. "It's been a pleasure serving under you sir. If you ever make it out of this hellhole, find my wife and kids and give them my love. Samantha." He gasped suddenly, doubled over, the parasite inside of him burrowing deeper, attacking vital organs. "Samantha Wilson. Lives on the Gaudium colony, sector 5. Thankyou, sir." He turned off the radio and loosed another volley of shots as the skulks rushed him. Turning onto his side, he reached over and pressed a button on the grenade launcher as the first of the skulks tore at his legs.
No more than fifty metres away, the shockwave almost blew Larkins off his feet. Cursing, his eyes burning with pain and anger, he turned to see the ship's doors clang shut. He sprinted over, breaking the circle the squad had formed around the radio. Pounding on the doors, he cursed blindly, hot tears burning his eyes. "Open up, damn you, he's dead, are you happy? Let us out of here, open up! Open up, **** it!" But he knew it was futile - already the ship could be hear flying away, rockets forcing it out of the atmosphere.
Turning back to his squad, their eyes wide and scared, he let go of his LMG and barely registered it clatter loudly on the metal floor. He slid to the ground, back against the cold lobby doors. They were trapped. Deep in the shadows, a skulk chuckled.
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the end of chapter one.
edit: something screwed up. should be fixed now
Comments
pardon?
i dont get what you mean here?
[ not sure if this applies though, i posted the chapter up there <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> ]
i think i might get what you mean by 'let someone else find out where the kharaa were from'
the chamber where the kharaa were 'made' ?
if so, yeah im kinda worried about that. i was tempted to change it to 'science research into kharaa'
in fact, i think if this is what you mean ill change it
i can easily see how i can change it
also, does anybody want me to write a second chapter?
if so, what should happen? im kind of lost for ideas
actually, ive got a good idea, i just dont have a purpose
'what do they plan to do now'
hang on
oooooooooooh
okay, i got an idea
anybody want me to write a second chapter?
[seriously]
this one will have more action
Then again, the Kharaa are atmospheric as well. Oh well... Actually, besides the sudden drop in of the man-made-ness, I really like this. Very good atmosphere. Reminds me of home (I am a rather twisted individual)
Look forward to next installment
Then again, the Kharaa are atmospheric as well. Oh well... Actually, besides the sudden drop in of the man-made-ness, I really like this. Very good atmosphere. Reminds me of home (I am a rather twisted individual)
Look forward to next installment <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
yeah, i intend to change it to a research lab
- im going to change 'it' into a research lab
if anybody wants a second chapter, tell me. im looking for at least 2 ppl who will be eagerly awaiting it... =/
the next chapter, if i do it, will have a lot more action, and will... interesting, to say the least <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
any takers?
i would REALLY like to read a second chapter to that story
it's very nice <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I'll write your names down and PM you all when I'm done.
Thanks for the support.
I can hardly wait
Just want to add a suggestion. Change the names for all the weapons to their actual names:
LMG: the "CZU"
HMG: the "Heavy"
Shotgun: the "Serieux"
GL: the "Arc"
Pistol: the "Cx10"
Mines: usually nicknamed "trips"
Would be cool to add those. Just a suggstion.
thanks for all the feedback guys, i love it <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
you love feedback, we love your fan fic
more please
thanks
hehehe sorry, just had to
[seriously]
when, if ever is the next chapter going to come out?
[/seriously]
namely, how to end it, is what's going to happen feasable, and what IS going to happen, and how? whats the reason?
i think i can sort it out though ... <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
g'night
i.e PRIVATE, etc
namely, how to end it, is what's going to happen feasable, and what IS going to happen, and how? whats the reason?
i think i can sort it out though ... <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
g'night <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
*chants for more fan-fic by the eediot*
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
oh, and if you want to know the military hierarchy, ask MonsE
hehehehe, well I guess there a different larkins then....
change the name man
thats ****
I would but I already have that character developed....
I had the first name Dan, and Larkins just seemed to fit, I've got a good idea, maybe I can give you a couple of free plugs (Dan sat in the com chair, remembering his brother who was MIA ever since the TSA mission to "the outpost"<-------hypertext link)
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->