Rapid response to unforeseen consequences

  “We’re not alone,” the well-armed soldier whispered softly in the ear of his companion. The feeling had been there but confirmed now with heavy footsteps echoing throughout the passageway.

   “Stay back,” he commanded, pointing to the small alcove where the pair had taken refuge in their trek to the emergency escape elevators.

   The Andromeda commando slowly peered around the edge of the small outcropping to see if he could catch a glimpse of their pursuer. He kept his assault rifle poised to be drawn in a moment’s notice. 

   “It’s clear. Let’s go,” he motioned to the door on the far end of the corridor, hurrying the panic-stricken scientist along.

   On the short, adrenaline filled sprint to the entrance at the end of the passageway the commando recalled the events that had led them to this.

It had started as just another ‘day in Paradise’ for the commando assigned to Andromeda Command, a rapid response task force capable of getting spaceborne with enough firepower to take over a small country in a matter of thirty minutes. Their exo-skeleton power suits and associated heavy weaponry made even a simple squad a force to be reckoned with. Also, despite their high-tech armaments and battle suits, the intense training regimen of the organization made even a single bare-handed Andromeda a force to be reckoned with. Up early for physical training, showers, chow hall, then a formation to relay the plan of the day. It was during their morning assembly when the distress beacon had gone off. Something had gone severely wrong, someone needed help, and they needed it now. 

   The distress beacon had come from a research facility hidden deep within the bowels of the earth in the remote region of New Mexico which had become the new Area 51, officially known as Area 67. This was where new research surrounding the infamous Roswell incident of 1947 had surfaced. Technology that had only recently matured allowed scientists to map the alien DNA from the deceased bodies that were found in the wrecked craft. This new technology allowed scientists to replicate one of the beings, gestated in a plasma medpod, normally used to treat gravely wounded soldiers by bathing them in a gel filled with nutrients and medicine.

   The briefing they received en route was that something had gone seriously awry in the facility. The alien being had mutated and was not the docile-looking creature it seemed to be. The blurry lab footage they received showed a creature unlike anything anyone in the platoon had ever seen. Many of them had grown up playing Resident Evil or Doom, and this was a creature reminiscent of those video games.

   “Our orders are to attempt to contain the beast, non-lethal munitions, to refrain from harming it. Capture, subdue, turn over to the eggheads, clean up and go home,” the platoon sergeant barked over the aircraft intercom. 

   “Like that’s gonna happen,” Sergeant Royce whispered loudly to one of his squad members next to him.

   The young Private smiled, nodded, and slapped a magazine of armor piercing rounds into his assault rifle. Orders were orders, but he wasn’t about to let this thing take him out. The sergeant was of a like mind, also slapping in an armor piercing magazine of ammunition, a wry smile crossing his face.

   “Casper One to flight, the LZ is clear, we’ll make our approach from the west. Two minutes out,” the radio crackled. That was the flight leader’s instructions to the other three tilt-rotors carrying the reinforced squad to the entrance of the underground facility. Three double clicks on the radio signified the other planes understood their orders.

   The four tilt-rotors landed near the entrance of the facility, the heavily armed warriors racing to surround the massive doors once the ramps of the aircraft touched the ground. A secure perimeter was set outside the portal into the underground lab in seconds. The tilt-rotors then took off, remaining nearby should an emergency extract become necessary.

   “Alpha Team, open those doors, Beta, cover them, Charlie team, you’re kicking it in,” the captain barked.

   Moving with the precision that came with hours of rehearsed assaults, the exo-skeleton clad soldiers from Beta team positioned themselves in a perimeter arc around the entrance, a rather insignificant mound of dirt with a heavy steel door embedded in its shadow. Alpha and Charlie teams, weapons drawn, closed in on the door. Alpha moving to the right where the door controls were, Charlie team moving to the left preparing to storm the opening once cleared.

   One Alpha member went to work on hacking the door controls, his team leader behind him holding up a fist indicating Charlie team to hold in place. Charlie team, the platoon sergeant in front, ready to lead the charge, mirrored the command. When the door unlocked, the Alpha team leader held up five fingers, counting down to the door opening. On the other side of the entrance, the platoon sergeant braced himself for the rush.

   The count reached zero and the doors started opening. When there was enough room for him to slip through, the platoon sergeant led the assaulting soldiers into the large foyer. Flashing red alarm lights and klaxons greeted them, but the room was void of any personnel or threats. Ten seconds later, Charlie team was inside, the room cleared, a defensive posture covering every doorway established.

   “Somebody shut that damn thing off,” was the first order of business commanded. Alpha came scurrying in under the watchful eye of Charlie. The same tech who’d opened the doors was now working to silence the alarm. He was successful in thirty seconds, but because of the alarm, the main power source was inoperative, emergency lighting the only thing available, casting an eerie glow throughout the space.

   “Alpha, you stay here, secure the entrance. Do not allow anything, I repeat, anything that isn’t human leave this facility, understand,” the ranking NCO commanded.

   “Roger that.” The team leader knew what that meant, and his team started placing small tactical nuclear mines in key positions throughout the large room. Drastic times, drastic measures, life in Andromeda, he thought. Nothing would be escaping this place if it came down to it.

   “Charlie, follow me, we’re gonna start clearing this place, top down. Grabbing people and getting them clear as we go, eliminating whatever caused this mess in the first place.”

   A nod from each of the half dozen lightly armored soldiers indicated they understood. Exo-skeletons were too bulky to wear in the confined space of the facility, so Beta remained outside in an overwatch position. Speed was more essential than armor for the inside mission. A blueprint of the facility had been sent to the Heads-Up Display, HUD, in their helmets, so they all had a schematic of the facility, knowing where both living quarters and research labs were.

   “Royce, take Evans and Jimenez to the labs. Your mission, find and neutralize the threat, alive, if possible, neutralized, no matter what,” The platoon sergeant ordered. Jimenez was part of the reinforcement detachment that had accompanied the core squad to the bunker. He was armed with a larger caliber automatic weapon than Royce and Evans were.

   “Roger that,” Sergeant Royce replied. Private Evans had been the one sitting next to him on the aircraft, both men smiling as they tore off, Corporal Jimenez in trail, for the nearest staircase heading down to the lab level.

   The descent was easy in the regard it was uneventful. The staircase was empty, the lighting barely enough to keep them from tripping as they made their way slowly, deliberately, down the seven flights to the bottom level. The hard part was the edginess, the unknown. Shining their weapon lights around, trying to illuminate every dark corner, fingers in the trigger wells, ready to unleash a barrage of armor-piercing automatic fire should something prove a threat. Reaching the bottom uneventfully provided a small bit of relief to the trio.

   Royce signaled his teammates he was going to open the door and move left, Evans was to enter and move right, while Jiminez was to delay, then enter covering the center as they reached the doorway to the lab level. Nods of acknowledgement and a countdown from three preceded their cascade into the hallway.

   It wasn’t a threat that assaulted them as they breached the door jamb, it was the smell. The coppery smell of blood and the stench of bowel opened to the environment and overpowered their senses when they entered. The hallway resembled a slaughterhouse. Pieces of human carnage were strewn everywhere. Sadly, none of this phased the commandos. In their relatively short time in the unit, they had already seen more than their fair share of battlefield repercussions.

   The hallway they were in led directly to the main lab. Three doors lined the sides of the passage along their route. Easing up to these doors, one at a time, they checked to see if they were open, potentially allowing a threat to pop out behind them. All were locked, a remotely detonated mine placed outside each in the event something unexpectedly popped out after they passed.

   The main lab was normally easy to see through, reinforced glass walls allowing maximum visibility for the experiments carried out there. Visibility was now significantly reduced by smears of blood and visceral matter decorating the interior coupled with the dim emergency lighting.

   The threesome of soldiers approached with extreme caution. The threat was unknown, but obviously a viable one. Noticing some of the injuries on the bodies, they saw some were caused by a sharp edge and some were caused by traumatic dismemberment. Basically, limbs had been ripped off of torsos.

   Double tapping his HUD, Sergeant Royce brought up the roster of scientists listed as working in the lab when the alarm had sounded. He had no idea how he was going to even attempt to account for all the personnel listed.

   Creeping close to the doors of the main lab, they heard something, Royce signaling freeze to the others. Listening closely, they made out a whimpering, sobbing noise. It was coming from the other side of the entryway. Using his fighting knife as a crowbar, he jimmied open the doors enough to get a hand hold, pulling the sliding doors open enough for the team to squeeze through. A pair of teammates ensuring the other member was covered as they slipped inside the bigger space.

   Senses were heightened as they slowly made their way toward the noise, unsure if this was either victim or threat. They used every scanner available to try and gain some intel on the situation. The scanners showed nothing, and it definitely sounded like a human in distress as they neared the source.

   The sound seemed to be emanating from behind a desk in the lad. Royce used hand signals that he was going to slide on the ground around the corner of the furniture, they were to cover both ends of it. His rifle at the ready, the sergeant rolled quietly over onto his back, then pushed himself up past the edge of the desk, mindful his muzzle didn’t point at his teammates.

   He relaxed slightly when he discovered the cause of the sounds. It was a scientist. His lab coat, smeared with blood and entrails, pulled over his head, shaking like a leaf, pressed against one side of the small opening, sobbing hysterically.

   Signaling hold to the others, Royce crawled under the desk with the victim. Grabbing the soiled lab coat, he opened it up so he could look directly at the man, and he could see him.

   “What’s your name?” the NCO whispered, not wanting to draw the attention of whatever caused this disaster. “Who are you? What happened here?”

   The bespectacled man just kept shivering. Trembling with fear, his eyes unseeing, staring off into space. That thousand-yard stare was brought into sharp focus with a spirited slap from the stressed-out soldier in front of him.

   “Who are you?” he asked again, slightly louder, this time.

   “D-D-Dr. Carson. Dr. Skip Carson. Assistant head scientist here.”

   Sgt. Royce quickly scroll down the personnel roster on his HUD, finding his name. OK, verified, at least we got one, he thought.

   “Anyone else left?” the questioning continued.

   “No. I-I-I don’t think so,” the petrified man stammered out.

   “Shhhh. Quiet, Doc. I don’t want whatever did this to hear us, got it?”

   A nod registered understanding.

   “I’ve got two compadres back here that are gonna help us get out of this mess, OK? We’re gonna go nice and slow, real quiet like. Copy?”

   Another nod.

   Royce started backing up, the trembling scientist trailing him as they moved from under the desk, the other two soldiers closing in a bit more. Using hand signals the NCO told them he was sending the doctor out first, he would follow, then Jimenz bringing up the rear as they exited. Putting his finger up to his lips, Royce motioned to be quiet, then pointed to the small opening in the doors they created on the way in. Dr. Carson quietly started crawling to the doors, showing no reluctance to leave the premises.

   Royce was through the doors, turning to cover his teammates in their exfiltration, when a noise that could only be described as an other-worldly shrieking started. He had difficulty finding the source amongst all the shadows and utter dishevelment of the room. Jimenez must have seen it though because the sound of the heavy machine gun ripped apart the silence that had recently occupied the space.

   As quickly as it had started, that sound stopped abruptly as the body of the soldier was thrown against the glass wall with unnatural force, causing the thick glass wall to crack, the thud of the impact echoing along with the crunch of multiple broken bones, the lifeless body sliding to the floor.

   “Go! Go! Go!” screamed the sergeant, squeezing the trigger of his weapon, pointing in the direction where the machine gunner’s body had originated from.

   It was to no avail. Private Evans rose up to race out of the room but had only taken one step before he stopped, literally, dead in his tracks, his head sliding away from his body as it fell. Unfortunately, he had been the one carrying the remote for the mines set near the doors. His body fell awkwardly enough for it to land on the triggers, the explosions blowing out the walls, caving in the passageway the three had entered the floor on.

   With the dust settling, Sgt. Royce and Dr. Carson shook their heads, trying to get the ringing in their ears to stop and gather their wits. Shining his weapon’s light at the caved in hallway, he tried pulling up the blueprint on his HUD, but that had been knocked offline by the explosion. He turned to his erstwhile companion shouting.

   “Is there another way out of here?”

   Barely recovering from the shockwave of the blast, the man pointed down another hallway, “Emergency escape elevators. End of the hall.”

   “Move!” the NCO screamed at the still in shock scientist.

   The doctor started stumbling as best he could.

   Looking back Sgt Royce trained his weapon on where the doors once stood. The light caught hold of a sight that would haunt him to his dying day. He could tell it was something not of this Earth. Six appendages looked positively deadly, the head of the creature looking like a menacing helmet of ancient times.

   Instinct kicked in and he held his trigger down, emptying the magazine as he quickly beat a retreat behind Dr. Carson, running as fast as his spindly legs could carry him.

   This brought him back to where he was now. The creature survived his fusillade of fire but wasn’t closing in on them any time soon. Sgt. Royce hoping he might have at least wounded it. 

   They reached the doors after a seeming eternity. Throwing a lever opened the escape elevator entrance. Stepping into the small capsule for their ride to the surface, they heard the same ear-splitting shriek they had before. Seeing movement in the darkness down the hall the warrior shined his light in that direction. Oozing a purplish substance, the creature was approaching them faster than either human cared for. 

   Sgt. Royce again mashed his trigger, pouring a freshly inserted magazine at the abomination. While the NCO was busy fending off their attacker, the scientist hit the emergency release button on the wall. This action slammed the doors shut, sending the elevator up at a force of two G’s initially, then slowing near the top of the shaft. Once stopped, Dr. Carson lifted the lever inside the car, opening the door, depositing them in the foyer where Beta team was waiting.

   “What happened down there?” the captain asked as they exited.

   “We need to go. Now. The threat is real. It needs to be neutralized. With extreme prejudice,” Sgt. Royce reported to his commanding officer.

   The look on his trooper’s face said it all. There wasn’t going to be a capture today.

   “Alpha, Charlie, grab who you can and get out right now. We are gonna blow this popsicle stand!”

   Double clicks on the radio followed as the rest of Beta started packing up their gear. The small nuclear mines remained in place.

   Sgt. Royce was helping Dr. Carson move to the exit, trying to remain clear of Beta as they were scrambling about. Heading back out into daylight he saw the members of the reinforced squad standing around, looking up at the sky, quite unusual for their current situation.

   He and Dr. Carson replicated the upward stare, discovering the reason for the inactivity.

   Awestruck, the platoon was gazing above them at a half dozen disc shaped objects floating in the sky near the humble entrance.

   Dr. Carson was the first to speak, his voice trailing off.

   “We are not alone . . . “