Episode 3: The Attack of The Salakary.
[YEAR 2913 – PLANET ORBITO – HERPERO HABITABLE SYSTEM] NIGHT
THE GALADRIUS…..
"Do you know how this whole raptor shit began? Hhm...S24….do you?" Colonel Rick asked as he went through a catalogue of books on the shelf of the library in the Galadrius.
Verrick S24 was standing close to the Colonel and he was also adjusting a reading table under a bright fluorescent light. He pushed the table closer to the wall and put a chair there. He then sat on the table and faced the Colonel squarely.
"I wasn't born two thousand years ago Colonel." Verrick S24 replied and twisted his table a bit to stay comfortable.
"I wasn't as well. But I read books….not one…..not two….not ten…..hundreds…..and from that, I was able to document a full journal on the Raptors and their ways of life." The Colonel stated
"Why are you telling me this?" Verrick asked in curiosity and confusion.
"You have the potential to control this ship Verrick….S24...you have full potential but you are not certain about who you are in the battle field and that makes you weak." Colonel Rick spoke without mincing words, he was right. He walked slowly to the wall vertically opposite to him and stood there, it was a bit far away from Verrick.
"What do you mean" Verrick asked.
"Section one….subsection one…..sub sub section one of the Salvation's Soldier's golden rule. Would you care to state it for me soldier?" Colonel Rick yelled as he ran his hands from one end of the wall to its centre. He stopped when he reached the centre and tapped an invincible button on the wall.
Verrick was silent but the Colonel yelled again the second time.
"State it…..now" The Colonel said, this time in a colder tone.
"Any Salvation Soldier wounded in battle is considered a liability to his comrades both on the battlefields and on the galadrius….he or she must...…(Sighs)….he or she must….must die." Verrick stated.
"For salvation…..right….for salvation. We die for salvation. You signed up to die for salvation, I signed up to die for salvation, your platoon signed up to die for salvation and they did die excellently…..She signed up to die for salvation but you didn't let her." The moment the colonel pressed the button, a compartment opened up in the wall and a strange dark hard cover book was exposed. The colonel grabbed it and the wall compartment closed immediately. He walked back to Verrick and sat next to him holding the book.
Verrick was silent; he knew where the Colonel was going.
"I allowed them to help Leeya…..not because of you or anyone…..but because I saw what was coming. We need more hands." The Colonel whispered and handed Verrick the strange book.
"What do you mean?….I don't understand what's coming" Verrick asked, he was getting restless now. He checked the title of the black book and it stated "The Journal of the Raptors". It was Colonel Rick's journal, the one he had been documenting for so many years.
"Let's make things clear Soldier, on this ship or back at home on OakLand you are Verrick but out there in the cold battlefields of war and blood where men kill or get killed, we don't need Verrick…..we need…..S24 and you must give us S24. S24 ain't weak…..or sober….he shows no sign of mercy. Do not confuse these two identities. We want that….I want that…..Are we clear soldier?" The Colonel asked
"I understand my task sir….but if I may ask….what is coming?" Verrick asked curiously again.
"We didn't win…..we didn't take Orbito. The raptors you killed earlier this morning were decoy; the real team was out there in the deserted mountains planting Salakary Eggs." The Colonel stated coldly without mincing his words.
"Oh no"
[A FEW METRES AWAY FROM THE GALADRIUS LANDING SPOT]
Two salvation soldiers without a tag sat at the oxygen gates of the Galadrius, they were put there to stay on the lookout. The gates were opened to absorb and store up oxygen for the next take off.
"The skies are so mesmerizing here on Orbito" The first soldier said as he tossed a rock at the mountains that surrounded him.
"Can't wait for the government of OakLand to terraform the planet. It's gonna be a great place to start over. OakLand's pretty congested right now, we need two capitals." The second soldier replied and laughed.
"No…no….we don't need two capitals. OakLand could be our only capital. From what I've observed, we need food. We could terra form the planet into one big farm." The first soldier spoke again.
"That is what Narthea is for, we don't need two Nartheas. I suggest we turn this place into the second OakLand" The second soldier argued.
The first soldier was about to reply when a big claw came slashing through his jaw and pierced his chin. The soldier groaned in pain and fell down to his death. The second soldier screamed and ran towards he Galadrius aiming to get in through the Oxygen gates. He was about to get in when a Salakary landed right in front of him and clawed out his intestines in one deadly swipe. He vomited blood and died immediately.
The leader of the just hatched Salakary army knelt down before the two men it had just slaughtered and touched their heads. It was surrounded by the other Salakary and they all watched it as it ripped into the brains of the two soldiers and extended its claws deep within their brains. its hands began to glow green and its eyes began to glow bright red, it shook and vibrated for some seconds before it became stable all of a sudden. Its removed its hands from the mashed up brains of the dead soldiers and stood back up.
"By absorbing their brain matter, I can now speak their cursed language" The leader said.
He walked up to their front and morphed his claws into tentacles which he spread around like wires, hundreds of the tentacles ran round the field filled with the Salakaries and injected them with data. The Salakary shook and vibrated too for some seconds before they became stable.
Then, they all spoke together in unism to their leader.
"Thank you for giving us the power to speak like them father" They all chorused.
"Now…we go in….we destroy....we conquer all" The leader said as he flew into the Galadrius through the gates followed by hundreds of others. They were going to destroy the Galadrius.
[YEAR 2913 – PLANET ORBITO – HERPERO HABITABLE SYSTEM] NIGHT
IN THE GALADRIUS….
Colonel Rick and Verrick S24 were running down the hall way towards the control room. They knew what was coming while the others didn't and S24 wasn't happy about it.
"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Verrick asked.
"I guessed and I was right…..according to the journal….." The Colonel Stated as he hurried towards the control room.
"We have seven hundred salvation soldiers on board this vessel…..we have close to five thousand of those beasts coming at us…..they have breached the eastern oxygen gates…..we are dead." Verrick stated blatantly.
"No….not entirely. We still stand a fighting chance" The Colonel said arguably.
"What do you mean?" Verrick asked.
"You go….go get S15 and all the other soldiers…..round em up and divide them…..into two platoons. Make sure one platoon is greater than the other in numbers. Send the smaller platoon towards the eastern gates. I will lead them. Once I lead the platoons to the eastern gates, you will eject the eastern gates and fly this vessel back to OakLand." The Colonel commanded again without mincing his words.
"Eject….Colonel with all due respect….you will die and the platoons will be slaughtered brutally. It will be a serious overkill on their side" Verrick argued.
"You will do as I say Soldier. You will go and divide the platoon….and you will send some my way….you will fly this vessel and you will leave me here understood soldier?" The Colonel asked.
Verrick was silent for a little while before he replied.
"Yes sir" He whispered softly
"When you get back to OakLand, make a copy of the journal I gave you. Look for General Ichiro and…..
The Colonel was about to complete his statement when Salakary invaded the hall ways and attacked. They killed every single soldier they saw on sight. They slaughtered them brutally with their large claws. Amidst the chaos, Verrick transformed into S24 immediately and his battle gear appeared on his body. All salvation soldiers' battle gear was inbuilt in them and they could be activated or deactivated at will.
S24 ran towards a Salkary and speared it into the wall killing it instantly. Another came up from behind but S24 caught it in mid air and smashed it to the ground. The Colonel grabbed a gun from a dead soldier.
"S24!!!!....catch" the colonel yelled as he threw the gun at S24 who caught it mid air and opened fire on the incoming beasts.
WESTERN MODULE….
In the western module, soldiers were preparing the vessel for takeoff when a voice echoed through the speakers of the ship. It was Colonel Rick.
"Salvation Soldiers...we are currently under attack by the Salakary…..all units please report…to
Colonel Rick's message was about to get completely passed when the Salakary invaded the western module through the glass domes. They smashed in with their heavy bat like wings and killed soldiers. The ones who could transform into their battle gears did and fought back but they were subdued. The Salakary were just too strong.
The Salakary army stormed through the western module and slaughtered the soldiers mercilessly. Amidst the chaos, veteran soldier S9 opened the air vent nearby and climbed into it. He crawled up the air vent straight over the whole mass slaughter.
CONTROL ROOM OF THE GALADRIUS…..
At the control room of the Galadrius, Colonel Rick and Verrick S24 were holding off against the Salakary. Their goal was simple; prevent the Salakary from getting into the control room. If the Salakary made it into the Control Room, the whole ship was done for. S24 and some other soldiers stood next to the metal doors and guarded it while Colonel Rick was trying to establish some connection with the other modules.
"Sir…..I think we just lost the western module." A soldier next to a monitor opposite Colonel Rick stated.
"No signals?" The Colonel asked curiously
"No signals sir." The soldier responded immediately.
"So we have lost all modules?" The Colonel asked again, he just couldn't accept the fact that they had lost the great Galadrius to those rattle heads.
"…yes sir….all hope is lost sir" The soldier replied again.
The Colonel sat down disappointed. Just a few minutes ago, everyone was full of hope but it was a surprise to him how things could change easily and quickly. The whole Salakary matter escalated so fast.
S24 walked up to the Colonel and looked him in the eye. They stared at each other for a while before they both decided to break the silence together at the same time.
"Why didn't you…." Verrick was about to complete his statement when he was interrupted by the Colonel.
"I didn't want to spoil the moment….." The Colonel interrupted.
"What" Verrick Whispered?
"We were celebrating our first victory against the Raptors on Orbito…..I didn't want to spoil the moment. We are soldiers but sometimes, we deserve peace…..hope...happiness…..we deserve it right?" The Colonel asked.
S24 sat next to the Colonel and they both observed the stars through the gigantic monitors that filled the whole room.
"What do we do?" Colonel Rick asked
"The whole ship has been taken down. The only thing standing between us and those dangerous beasts is just a thin metal door which would break down anytime soon." Verrick replied.
"That means we are dead….right?" The Colonel asked.
"We could take off and flush the whole ship while in space….." S9 said as he hopped down from the air vent above the Colonel. Everyone in the control room turned off the safety of their guns and pointed it at S9 thinking he was a threat.
Leeya S15 also hopped down from the air vents. She followed S9 and avoided the chaos at the western module.
Verrick walked up to S9 and S15. The Colonel stood up and wore his hat. Hope suddenly returned in a blink of an eye. Most importantly, Verrick S24 was happy to see Leeya S15. They both exchanged glances and smiled.
"What did you just say soldier? Colonel Rick asked.
"We could flush the whole ship while we're in space. We need to take off with those beasts still inside. When we get to space, we could open all the oxygen gates and flush them out" S9 said confidently.
"I think he is right…." S15 muttered.
End of episode 3
To be continued.