Please read forgivingly (and if you have the time corrections are welcomed).
What
they found was enough to sicken even the battle hardened soldiers
chosen for the task.
“Oh
my God,” Felton breathed. “It was a massacre.”
Bodies
lay in the street, left where they had fallen. Each one had a weapon
beside them, some were still behind their improvised barricades of
furniture and shop fittings. Men and women shot with high powered
energy rifles and left to rot. Some were young, some old, but all
were regular people, the farmers and shopkeepers with hunting rifles
and shotguns, items used less as weapons and more as tools but at the
last used in a desperate attempt at defence.
Chase
ordered the buildings to be searched. There were several thousand
colonists on the planet and he could only hope they were not all
there.
They
moved methodically, making their way along the main street that was
virtually all there was to the town. At each new building they found
more bodies, more people left where they were shot without care or
regard.
At
the small worship hall Chase found himself rooted in place, even
there the colonists had been shot down. An elderly couple had plainly
not died right away, they had turned to face each other and their
hands were clasped together as they had shared their final moments.
Whatever had occurred here was more than a bandit raid, it was
systematic murder.
“Sir!”
the call cut off abruptly and there was the faint sound of someone
being sick.
Chase
woke from his thoughts instantly and ran with Felton on his heels to
see Private Leeson on his knees in the street still coughing and
Private Shaw behind him with tears in his eyes.
“In
the school, sir,” Shaw managed.
Somehow,
Chase summoned up the will to push open the door and walk in. There
was nothing in the corridor beyond, the walls were lined with
brightly painted pictures and school bags rested in a neat line on
the floor, but the place stank of death.
“Captain,”
Felton whispered and indicated to a door on their left, slightly
ajar.
Chase
moved to push the door fully open but caught a glimpse of what was
inside and stopped still. “Sergeant, I want you to go back
outside.” the order was leaden.
“Captain,
I,”
“Just
go, Felton, and don’t let anyone else in here.”
Felton
did not have to see what was in the room to guess what was there, not
from her Commanding Officer's tone. “Yes, sir.” She backed away
carefully, grateful that she had not been the first to look and
ashamed to be thinking such a thought when she was supposed to be an
experienced soldier. She would make sure the outside of the building
was covered but the Captain would have to watch himself inside, it
was not what she would have done but she could understand his
decision when thus far there was no movement and no traps. With any
luck the school was no different to the rest of the town.
Once
the Sergeant was gone, Chase walked hesitantly into the room. It was
a small assembly room, its walls were covered in the same brightly
coloured pictures as the hallway but most of them were splashed with
a browning red.
Chase
felt himself hyperventilating, the stench was almost overpowering but
he had a job to do and he would make sure he did it.
He
gagged more than once, but to be sick would mean being sick over one
of the tiny bodies and when they had been desecrated so badly already
just the thought was enough to keep him focused. He made himself
check each of the bodies, assigning each an approximate age. From the
wounds they had and the way they were piled they had been herded into
the room and someone had stood at the end of the hall and opened
fire. Some had survived the initial butchery because they had been
shot point blank in the head, a clean up to make sure none survived.
Woodenly,
Chase stood and walked to the edge of the room, to the door. He
wanted desperately to do something for them, not leave them there,
but there was no time. Once their duty was done he would make sure
they all got a fitting burial. He had to check the rest of the
building, the small classrooms and those essential other rooms needed
for a functioning school. There were more bodies in the staffroom,
the teachers had been shot there, away from the poor children who had
died terrified and so young. All so young.
The
thought hit him as he stood at the door about to leave. Work in the
classrooms had not just been the efforts of those youngsters but of
elder children as well, yet only the youngest were in the hall and
only adults were outside. Not everyone was in town
All
the squad were gathered outside when Chase walked back into the
sunshine. His eyes were mixed points of grief and rage and each man
he surveyed mirrored that.
“Is
there anyone else?” he asked, forcing his voice to not crack.
“Some
more adults in a few buildings, they had obviously barricaded
themselves in, but it didn’t help them.”
“Are
you sure they were all adults?”
“Yes,
sir.”
“The
oldest child in there,” he paused to take a breath. “Was no more
than ten. Where are all the teenagers?” he turned his eyes to
Felton. “Have you found Castleman?”
“No,
sir, he’s not amongst the bodies. Could he have taken the older
children? And the rest of the colonists?”
“Let’s
hope so.” Chase knew that for the rest of his life he would see
that school hall every time he closed his eyes and he swore to those
children he would find whoever had done it and he would kill them.
“We have to check the farmsteads. Maybe they holed up in one of
them.” First though he would order the recordings from their helmet
cameras be uploaded and sent on a secure transmission to his
superiors. This colony had been viciously attacked and even as they
searched for survivors someone had to be told about it and begin the
search for the culprits.
“We're
having comms issues here, sir,” this report from the Naval pilots
assigned to them was not good news.
“Define
issues.”
“We're
not sure, some sort of interference and it's blocking us off the
network. As soon as we've cleared it we'll be able to transmit.”
Chase
frowned, he did not like the sound of that. “Keep me informed.”
As
much as the situation was enough to unnerve the Marines they had to
make it a priority to find to missing colonists. They had to try the
nearby homesteads and hope for the best.
For
the first small farm they went to they treated everything as though
it was a potential trap. They stayed off the long track, skirting
through the crops and taking it slowly and quietly. Whoever or
whatever had killed the colonists could well have still been there
and it would do them no good to simply blunder in. It took a long and
agonising time to get to the farm, it was set back almost a mile from
the town out of sight but was no different to the town, the family
were all dead, parents and three young children huddled together in
their living-room shot at close range, even the cattle in the barn
had been slaughtered, even the two dogs in the back garden.
Someone
was killing anything that breathed without discrimination.
The
second home was the same again, having gone through another long walk
to what was a much smaller farmstead this time the marines found an
old couple, their horses, pigs, goats, dogs and even the chickens,
all shot with the same heavy energy rifles.
Their
next target was another farm this time even further from the town,
out of sight down a long track cut through an ancient forest. By now
they were all trying to hiding their nerves from each other. Too much
blood had been spilled with no sight of who or why. Would they just
find more bodies again or would they perhaps find someone alive at
last?
Then
there was the accusing crack of an energy weapon ahead of them.
“Gotcha,”
Chase growled.
Even
as he said it a second shot rang out and would have hit him square in
the chest if Felton had not tackled him to the ground.
“Cover!”
she yelled, and dragged her officer into the trees. “Are you
alright? Where were you hit?”
Chase
touched the top of his arm and grimaced. “I'm okay, it's a graze.
Thanks.”
“We’re
even now.” Felton had waited a long time to return the favour, to
repay Chase for saving her life on their last combat deployment, but
she did not waste time dwelling on it. They were under enemy fire,
their officer was already injured and she had the squad to organise.
“It's
a trap.” the call came through suddenly from the transport. “We're
under heavy fire. Can't hold position.”
Chase
forgot his injury as he heard the frightened voice of the pilot in
his ear.
“We're
evacuating the landing site.”
He
began to swear, only to stop abruptly as he heard the distinctive
boom of an artillery cannon. Their ship was only a standard
transport, it was not a combat vessel, it would have no chance
against a cannon. “Get out, get out and call a mayday. Get out.”
“Sorry,
Captain,” the pilot's voice was suddenly calm. “You-”
Even
from the forest the explosion was deafening.
There
was a moment of shocked silence, but the crack of rifles brought
Chase back. “Get the bastards.”
It
was difficult to gauge how many people they were facing. Shots came
from the house and two of the barns, but from the nearest barn, the
only building in front of the house, someone was firing a
slug-thrower. Had they finally found a survivor?
Chase
shooed Braddow off as the younger man slid beside him and took hold
of his arm. “It's superficial, leave it.” He was lucky and he
knew it, light armour was no defence against a heavy rifle, if the
shot had got him in the chest he would most likely be dead. As it was
he had only been grazed by the edge of the energy blast and that had
slagged the upper arm panel of his armour, leaving a bloody mess
where it had once been. He could still flex the arm and pick up his
rifle so it was only skin damage, it could wait until they were in
less danger even if it burned.
While
the Captain got himself back to his feet, Felton took charge of the
men. She was furious, whoever had murdered all those defenceless
colonists had just shot down a retreating ship with some fantastic
marines on board. If she could find and kill every one of those
murderers it would be a start to her revenge.
She
closed her eyes and forced herself to count slowly to five, she had
to clear her head and stow the rage. When Felton's eyes opened she
was focused on the task. They had to identify how many attackers
there were and be mindful of any innocent colonists caught in the
middle. She organised the squad with concise orders, proud of the men
for taking the sudden eruption of death and violence in their stride
and rising to the occasion. They were marines, they excelled at this,
it was their life and they would have it no other way. They would get
their revenge.
“We
need that barn secure.” Chase hissed, more to himself than any of
his men. After a minute of exchanging fire it was clear whoever was
in there was also defending themselves from the mysterious enemy.
“I've
got a door in sight.” Shaw whispered as he crept forward. Sneaking
was his forte and he was brave enough to take advantage of his skill.
“Hold
position.” Felton ordered calmly. She was still studying the
location of each marked unfriendly on the map displayed unobtrusively
over the left lens of her sunglasses. The last thing she wanted was
Shaw to give his position away, he was too far forward to easily be
covered.
Then
off to the right, Leeson scored a perfect shot. A single shot into a
window of the farm house landed on two unfriendlies.
Felton's
map looked much better, there were only four confirmed unfriendlies
left and none of them had an easy shot to Shaw's side of the barn.
“Shaw, if you're in position, pick your moment.”
“Going
for it.” Shaw broke cover at a sprint and could only hope the door
was either not locked or had a lock that would break under his weight
as he ran into it. Rebounding off an old wooden door would be
embarrassing as much as potentially deadly.
FraidyKat Runs - for hope
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