Tremulous: The Harder They Fall

[DeathSkull]

Tremulous
Book 1
The Harder They Fall
By Houston Rogers

©2009
All parts of this story (with the exception of obvious game features, like the weapons and Battlesuits) are my own creation. You may not take from, add to, or otherwise edit this story in any way without my permission. If you steal anything from this story, you will be punished. Thank you for reading! ^_^

Edit: Spork was awesome enough to make a cover for the story. Thanks a million!

Explosions boomed in Sarge O'Reilly's ears as he ran for the base. His lungs were on fire, his heart was threating to burst, and yet he kept going. He wasn't going to be their dinner. No way in hell.

He wanted to radio ahead, tell his remaining team members to be prepared, but he couldn't waste his breath. Every one counted as the unearthly screams of his dying comrades followed him. They hadn't been at all prepared for what they'd seen. The creatures were an abomination to the eyes, things that should not exist, but they did. They tore through his men like a hot knife through butter. Dear God, why did they send him out, of all people?

Guilt began to form as he realized he'd abandoned his men. They looked up to him, and he'd left them behind. But he just couldn't make himself stay. It was too horrible...

--------
O'Reilly slid his helmet on, then turned to his men. 10 of them, all good soldiers. They didn't always get along, but he wouldn't want to be here without them.

"You know why we're here today. We're the last line of defense against this... alien scourge. But you know what? We're the last, but we're the best! There's nothing we can't tackle together! Am I right, men?"

"Hoorah!" they shouted in unison.

Sarge smiled and grabbed his shotgun.

"Let's show them who's boss."

-----------

He ducked into a large bunker, looking for a switch to shut the door. There was none. Panicking, he looked around for some supplies, or ammo. Nothing of that type either.

"Jesus, what kind of bunker is this?"

He could hear them coming. Their little feet pattering on the floor and walls. Wait... there was something else... louder footsteps... and a snort.

Sarge screamed and backed into the corner as the large alien came around the corner and approached him slowly. They were face to face, that's how big it was. Like its smaller counterparts, it had six legs, but it was black and maroon, rather than the dirty brown the tiny ones had been. Its breath stank, saliva dripping from it's mouth onto the floor with a plop sound. O'Reilly thought it was hungry. Very hungry.

Without warning a gun went off, and the creature screamed, spinning around. Its tail end struck the Sarge, sending him flying into the wall, although not hard enough to hurt him. The alien ran outside, favoring one of its now wounded legs. A few more shots went off, and the alien screamed again. Sarge watched as a man ran up to it, kicked it to the floor, and shot it in the head.

"Sarge?" the man asked.

"Turner? You made it out?"

"Barely. Jones was right next to me, and you know what happened to him. I don't know how I escaped."

Sarge nodded. Jones had, more or less, gotten his face eaten off.

"Maybe they got their fill." Turner added.

Sarge grimaced, then looked at the gun Turner was carrying. "What's that?"

"Mass Driver, sir. Energy based sniper. Does wonders against those little brown aliens. One shot and they-"

Turner was interrupted by a loud roar filling the air. The two men didn't waste time, and headed straight for the base.

Or what was left of it. Most of the defenses were in shambles, the turrets so much scrap metal. The Reactor was ok, and so was the armory, but the telenodes had been damaged beyond repair.

"Oh fuck." Turner muttered.

Sarge looked over everything, the last of his hope down the drain. They'd never get out of this alive. Turner didn't even hesitate, heading straight for the armory and grabbing a chaingun.

"I'm going to pay them back for what they did to the others." He snatched a small cylindrical object off the shelf, then moved back into Sarges line of sight. It was a grenade.

"I probably won't be coming back, boss, but it'll be worth it. I'm going to finish them."

"No, Turner. We've got to put our heads together..."

"Sir, you can finish off what's left."

Sarge sighed, then let him go. About 10 minutes later he heard the explosion, and then a cheer. Shortly after that, footsteps approached the front of the base. It was Turner.

"Sarge! I did it! I got the-"

A large alien stepped out of the darkness, at least 2 times bigger than the creature in the bunker, swiping at him and sending him flying. Turner hit the ground and rolled, and the creature descended on him. Sarge tried his best to block out the screams of his last man.

After a while everything went quiet, but O'Reilly could feel them watching him. It was a game to them, torturing and killing his kind. It was a fun pastime, nothing more. He could feel madness nibbling at the edge of his mind.

"COME AND GET ME!" he yelled into the darkness, but nothing answered. No noise whatsoever. But he could still feel those eyes on him.

Cursing, he got up and went to the armory, entering the code and opening it. The usual assortment of rifles and shotguns awaited him, but something at the bottom caught his eye.

"A Lucifer Cannon?" he asked aloud. Picking it up, he was surprised at how heavy it was. Probably 40 pounds or so. He though this would be a suitable weapon for taking down that alien.

He slid a battery pack on and grabbed his new gun, then headed out into the darkness. He thought he spotted the monster in the shadows ahead.

"Come on!" he yelled at it.

He pressed the trigger, and the cannon slowly began to charge up. The alien moved forward slowly, as if taunting him.

"Bring it, you ugly bastard! This is for Turner and all my men that you killed! COME ON!"

With a loud roar, the alien rushed him, the ground trembling with its footsteps. Sarge grinned, and just as it reached him, he released the trigger. There was a bright flash of light and scorching heat, and then all went black.

-----------
The End

[UniqPhoeniX]

  Awesome story! You should become a writer.

[khalsa]

Nice ending. More please.

[|VA|NoMoniter]

awesome dude did he enough creds :P

[DeathSkull]

He must have

Thanks for the feedback, I may write more soon. Edited post to fix a few spelling errors.

[DeathSkull]

McNabb dropped his cigarette to the ground and stamped it out. Smoke rose from the crushed remains as he walked back inside to his post. An alarm suddenly went off and he rushed back to his desk. He radioed up to the tower.

"See anything coming in? I've got alarms going off everywhere!"

"Yessir, we've got one of our own ships requesting permission to land. They say they have injured people aboard."

"Granted, but why did the alarms go off?"

"No idea, sir. Mess up in the wires? We could have someone go check it out."

McNabb sighed. "You do that. McNabb out." He switched the radio off and leaned back in his chair and resting his feet on the desk, pondering the faulty alarms. He'd been sure they'd been tripped by enemy forces. The Peace Pact of 2317 more or less put an end to wars amongst themselves, but there were raiders and bandits that had formed their own groups, not willing to curb their violent natures. None of them had the guts to attack a bunker (yet), but McNabb was ready for anything.

"Sargent McNabb, report to the medical wing. Repeat, Sargent McNabb, medical wing!"

Oh, what now he thought, his feet slapping on the plastic mat his chair sat on. He grabbed his blaster and rushed to the elevators.

--------------

He felt like puking when he saw the man on the bed. Or rather, what was left of him.

His hair had fallen out, and sores had opened up all over his body, gushing pus and blood. He was rambling incoherently, something about monsters, but his tongue was wasted and he was lacking many of his teeth.

"My god, what happened to him?" McNabb asked of one of the aids.

"No idea sir. Results seem to indicate nuclear radiation, but we don't understand how. He was stationed at a base in the Xeres System with a small team of men."

McNabb frowned. "I'll look into this."

"You might want to visit Room 3C. We've got another survivor there. Much better condition, thank god. Goes by the name of Turner."

--------------
Room 3C

The man on the bed was sleeping, so McNabb turned to leave. "Wait," a low voice said.

He turned back around to see him sitting up. "Hey there, boss. Dozed off for a few."

McNabb smiled and sat in the chair by the bed. "Turner, is it?"

"Yes sir. Stationed on Base #1873 in the Xeres System. Or I was. Did the Sarge make it? Can I see him?"

McNabb's smile faded. "It's best if you don't."

Turner let out a low sound that was not quite a sob. "He was like a dad to me and the others, unlike those mean Sarges you see in all those old holo films. Will he... wait, I don't think I want to know."

McNabb nodded sympathecticly. He understood Turner perfectly.

"What about the other men, where are they?"

"Dead, sir."

"All of them?!"

"Yes sir. Wiped out by some sort of alien life form."

McNabb stood. "What? That's preposterous!"

"I assure you I'm telling the truth, sir."

"I'll come back later, soldier. Get some rest."

"You believe me, don't you, sir? Sir?"

McNabb was gone.

--------------

"Security, do you have Turner's armor?"

"Yes sir. Right here, sir!"

McNabb sighed. Thank God for small favours. Maybe he could put an end to Turner's seemingly mad report.

"Send it up to me, if you will."

"Right away, sir."

About 15 minutes later, a box arrived. McNabb accepted it and unlocked it, then gasped.

The armor was smeared with blood, with holes in it. It looked like a wild animal had gotten a hold of Turner and almost made lunch out of him. McNabb radioed down to Medical and asked about Turners injuries.

"Broken leg, broken arm, and a couple ribs. Not to mention some deep flesh wounds. Looks like-"

McNabb finished. "-an animal got a hold of him. Right. Thanks for the info."

McNabb signed off and looked for Turners helmet. He'd put an end to this once and for all. Removing the video chip, he inserted it into his computer and loaded the last video in the file.

"Oh my God..."

--------------

"What'd you bring me, McNabb? I hope it's good."

McNabb was in his commanders office, his laptop by his side. The room was bland and dreary, gray walls, gray floor, devoid of any decoration. His boss liked it simple.

"I think you'll find this interesting, sir. I talked to the 2nd survivor that came in recently-"

"That Turner kid? Seems nice, but I think he's got a few loose marbles."

McNabb lost some of his enthusiasm. "Why, sir?"

"Did you get an earful of his alien sermon? It's bullcrap, McNabb. Pure bullcrap. There are no aliens out there."

McNabb replied: "With all due respect, sir, I don't think it's bullcrap."

"With all due respect, soldier, I hope you're not going to jump in the loony bin with him," the boss shot back.

"Sir," McNabb said, leaning down to grab his laptop, "if you'd just look at-"

"I'm not looking at anything, son. The kid is a walking mental case, ok? His sarge is sick with radiation, God bless him, and all his team members were killed. Let it go, McNabb."

The soldier sighed, stood, and extended his hand. "Thanks for listening, sir."

The commander shook it. "I understand your concerns, but the boy will be fine. Let him get some rest and he'll come around eventually. This'll all be wish-wash."

McNabb wished he could say the same.

--------------

3 Weeks Later

The commander straighted his tie, licked his palm and smoothed back his hair. "How does it look, soldier?"

"Fine, sir."

"You're a good man, McNabb. I'm glad I can trust you with the base while I'm gone." The commander grabbed his suitcase and important papers and started towards the shuttle. He turned and looked at the soldier.

"Make me proud, son."

McNabb nodded, and the commander was gone. As soon as the ship was out of sight he turned and grabbed his laptop from the desk, then went over to the Video and Audio department. "See what you can make of this," he said, handing it to Jessica, a video tech assistant.

She opened it up and watched the film. When it was over, she looked up. "What is this?"

"I was hoping you could tell me, Jess. It's footage from Turners helmet while he was stationed out there in the Xeres system."

"Well, it's authentic. No sabotage. But those creatures..."

Turner himself walked in. Due to the medical teams work and technology, not to mention his own will to live, he'd made a full recovery. "Those creatures are a threat to us all. I don't know where they come from, but I know what they want. They want to kill us all."

"Turner, you only saw a few of them. Maybe they aren't a completely violent race..."

"Oh sure, Jessica. Look at Jones and what happened to him. You think they were trying to say 'We come in peace'? They ate his face off!"

McNabb butted in. "Calm down, people. I'm with Turner. The first and only impression they leave is that they want to kill us. We're going to have to accept this as a threat for now."

"I say we go back and finish whatever is left."

"Now, Turner, we can't rush into this. We don't have the manpower, first of all, and there could be dozens or hundreds of them. Secondly, we don't have a plan."

Turner looked disgusted. "Well, I plan on doing something, with or without you." With that, he walked off.

--------------

The End of Chapter 2

[khalsa]

I can't wait for the upcoming battle, hurry up!

[Winnie the Pooh]

Wow.

Khalsa is wetting his pants for this story and I can see why!

Great job!

[DeathSkull]

Turner threw back the covers and slid out of bed, shivering as his feet touched the cold floor. He quickly put on his slippers and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shave. Looking in the mirror, he saw a gaunt face with dull eyes... he was a shadow of his former self. The incident on Xeres had changed him. He thought he would recover in time, but he would have to wait and see.

After he was finished, he got dressed and made his way to the mess hall for breakfast. The smell of the food cooking wafted through the halls of the base, and others were exiting their rooms, following their noses.

"I don't know why we do this every morning. Military food is substandard." One rookie said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Turner laughed, then grew serious. "It's not the food that gets us up every morning. It's our duty to humankind that brings us safely through the night to a bring new dawn."

With those words left for the rookie to digest, he moved up ahead. A scientist reached out and touched his elbow as he passed.

"Meet me in the lab after breakfast, will you?"

Turner nodded and entered the mess hall.

-----------------

After the meal, he made his way to the elevators with a few other soldiers. They went down a few floors, and it was quickly apparent they were all headed to the same place.

"What'd they want you for?" Turner asked of the man next to him, known as DJ.

"Didn't say. Just said to meet him in the lab after breakfast. What about you?"

"Same thing."

No one was wanted for one specific thing, it seemed. The doors slid open, revealing the scientist.

"Good, you all came. Follow me, please."

He led them through a set of swinging doors into a large room. One wall was filled with what looked like a massive computer. Machinery whirred and clanked, assembling weapons and armor for the base. Turner saw a large metal robot against the far wall.

"Thats the BattleSuit. It's level 3 armor, made of the best materials we could get our hands on. You can take quite a beating with this baby on. DJ, you'll be testing this today. Please step forward."

DJ had a scientist assigned to him, and they got to work as the group moved forward.

"You three will be weapons testing. We've got some new stuff ready to try out, and I expect a full report from each of you!"

The others moved off, leaving Turner and the scientist alone. "Follow me, please."

"Who the heck are you anyways?" Turner asked.

"I'm Doctor McGregor, science team leader. Are you not familiar with our staff at this base?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm not assigned to this base. I was in the-"

"Oh yes!" Dr. McGregor said. "The soldier from the Xeres system. Well, we're pleased to have you with us. Now, please come this way."

The doctor led Turner into a side room, almost empty save for a computer and what looked like a telenode.

"Doctor, I don't know if you've heard about what happened..."

"Yes, I have. The aliens, right? You want to wipe the rest of them out, but we don't have the men to do it with, am I right?"

"Yes, sir. That's what McNabb says."

The doctor smiled. "McNabb doesn't keep up with everything that goes on down here, son. I think I can help you out."

The Doctor began to talk, and Turner listened, growing more amazed each second.

-----------------
A Month Later...

McNabb made his way to his office when he passed a small break room. He heard someone talking, and peeked inside.

It was Jess, talking to a couple soldiers.

"What's up, boss?" She asked as he entered.

"Not much. What are you three up to? Nothing naughty, I hope."

Jess laughed and one of the soldiers, a new recruit by the name of Jackson, blushed, his face turning as red as a tomato. McNabb grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, if you were thinking anything bad, we wont tell."

His face went even redder, if that was possible.

"Naw," Jes said. "We were just discussing the aliens in the video."

McNabb sighed. "Well, that's all we can afford. Talk is free, anything else is going to cost us."

"Sir, may I make a suggestion?" Jackson asked.

"Certainly."

"If we should... you know, ever fight them... shouldn't we have names for them?"

McNabb frowned. "Names?"

"Yessir. Names for each of them. It'd be a pain to have to say 'The little brown aliens are nesting in the southeast vent' or 'The giant six legged monsters are attacking!'. We should give them a name or a class or something."

McNabb thought it over, then nodded. "I agree. Excellent idea soldier."

Jackson blushed again. "I just threw it out there."

Jes made a face. "What those little brown aliens did to Jones makes me want to retch."

Jackson grinned. "Retch... gretch...dretch? Yeah, there we go! Dretch! The little aliens are Dretches." He got up and went to look for some paper.

McNabb laughed. "Now come up with something for the other two. Good luck." He left.

-----------------

McNabb looked at the doctor. He'd been called down here just as he was getting to sleep. The doctor had a plan for taking down the aliens, and he hoped it was a good one, or someone was going to get his butt fired.

After the doctor went through all the details, McNabb wasn't tired anymore. "Are you sure this will work?"

"I'm fairly certain sir. We've been testing this all month, and we've more or less perfected it."

"More or less, doctor?"

"Well..." he looked at the floor. " There may be a few glitches in the system, but we can easily iron those out if they show up. Otherwise, we're as good as gold!"

McNabb nodded. "Alright. I'll send a setup team to the Xeres system to put up a base."

-----------------
The Next Day...

The base was assembled. It was located in an old weapons plant not far from where the aliens had first been seen. McNabb and the entire base roster were in the science lab, save Turner. He was getting ready.

All eyes were on the super computer screen, which was transmitting live video feed from the plant. The setup team was waiting for them, keeping an eye out for any hostiles.

The lab door slid open and Turner walked in. His face was clean shaven, nary a whisker in sight. His hair was pushed back with a headband to keep it out of his eyes. He grabbed a rifle and nodded at the doctor. "I'm ready."

McNabb clapped Turner on the shoulder and nodded. "Good luck."

Turner thanked him and followed the doctor into the side room.

McNabb heard machinery and computers humming back there... and the lights throughout the entire base dimmed...

Everyone cheered as Turner showed up on the computer screen, safe and sound. The teleportation was successful.

The machine whirred and hummed again... and another Turner showed up. Everyone gasped, and McNabb smiled. It was one thing to hear this, but another thing to see it.

Hummmm

Another Turner.

Hummmm

And another...

Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
Hummmm
-----------------
The Niveus Base

"Sir, we've got alien movement in the vents." one of the setup team members said.

Turner nodded and looked at all of his clones, pleased. Everything had gone perfectly. They all lined up in a row, rifles at the ready.

"Listen to me! We are here today to wipe out the alien race! Those foreign scum that dare to strike out at us! We're going to show them who's at the top of the food chain! They sent us a message, one of violence. What are we going to do?"

"Kill them!"

"Yes! They murdered my... our brothers! They defiled them, destroyed them! What is our response?"

"Death!"

"YES! We will rise up and strike them down, we will rain death down on their heads! Those bugs are going down! What do you do with bugs, my brothers? WHAT?"

"EXTERMINATE THEM!"

Turner grinned. "Move out!"

They all moved as one.

-----------------

The dretch sniffed the air and smelled human flesh. It could smell something else as well... not fear, like those other humans... they had reeked of fear. Not fear, but hate... anger.

The dretch turned and crawled back to its base.

War was coming.

-----------------
The End of Part 3

[your face]

  Suspense!!!

[DeathSkull]

Niveus Base

The man in charge of tech looked at his radar. "Turner, we've got alien lifeforms in another section of the base. We better move fast."

"Alright, lets get to work. Push those crates over, men. We need some cover!"

Turner grabbed a couple boxes and started stacking them in a line. "Open that one, see if there's anything inside." One of them grabbed a crowbar and jammed it into the crack between the lid and the box. "Help me with this!" A couple more soldiers moved over and grabbed the crowbar. "1...2...3!"

The lid came off with a crack, a few splinters flying. "Boss, we got shotguns. No ammo though."

Turner cursed. "Must be in another box. You and you," he said, pointing to the two closest men. "Go and look for shells. The rest of you, help me put up this perimeter."

The two moved off, eyes searching every nook and cranny. "Any hostiles, #24?"

"Negative, #17. No aliens in sight. Let me check my map really quick..."

He tapped a button on his wrist and a 3D holomap came to life.

"Stairs down this hall. Take a right at the end and another right and there they are. Let's move."

The two raced down the hall, hugging the walls. #17 peeked around the corner. "Clear, move up."

Next corner was also clear. "I'm beginning to think the radar was frigged up, 17." 24 said.

17 grabbed his flashlight and shone it under the staircase. Nothing. "I doubt it. These bugs are just being really stealthy. Lets go!"

They moved up, quick yet quiet. The next floor revealed itself to be some sort of passageway. Red lights gave the room/hall an eerie glow. "Botanists floor, according to the map. There's a garden around here somewhere."

"If only the aliens were vegetarians..." 17 said, sighing.

"If they were, we wouldn't be here. Next floor up looks like it might have what we need."

They moved up the stairs again to what was apparently the storage room.

"Yes!" 17 exclaimed. "Jackpot!"

24 grabbed his crowbar. "Let's get cracking."

-----------------

Turner stacked the last box into place and stepped back. A perfect barrier. Let's see them try to get through that.

#14 eyed the other entrance. "Are you sure those turrets will keep the aliens out?"

"With us backing them up? I don't see why not. These boxes here will do a good enough job on this side of things. Don't worry, #14. We'll be fine. Do you disagree?"

14 smiled. "I don't usually disagree with myself, sir."

Turner laughed. "True, true." He went over to the radio and picked up the microphone. "24, how's it coming?"

"Good, boss. We found the shells! Coming back now."

Turner started to put the microphone down when screams started coming through it. He brought it back up to his mouth in a hurry. "What's wrong?!?

"We're under attack! 17, shoot them! SHOOT THEM!"

-----------------

17 brought his rifle up and fired at the dretch, the bullets tearing it to shreds. 3 more crawled across the ceiling. 24 grabbed his own rifle and shot at them. Moving swiftly, the dretches leaped at their heads, but two of them were gunned down. The last one landed on 17's face, clawing at his eyes. He screamed.

24 shot it off, and 17 dropped to his hands and knees, blinded. Blood flowed down his face, and his choking sobs filled the air. 24 unholstered his blaster, aimed at the back of 17's head, and fired.

"One man down, sir."

-----------------

Turner slammed a fist down on the table. This early and already they had a casualty. From now on they'd travel in groups of 4 or more. "You 3, go help him"

The soldiers nodded and rushed down the hall.

In a matter of minutes the group had returned with the shells. 24 was shaken, but otherwise ok. Popping the lid, they got to work loading the guns.

"What now, sir?" a soldier asked.

"We wait."

-----------------

A dretch crawled inside the mass of goo, resting in its slimy warmth. The others watched as it began to slowly grow.

-----------------

A lone soldier named 21 wandered away from the group. He made his way to the garden, inspecting the plants. As he pushed them out of the way, he spotted a creature sitting amongst them. It's flesh was pink, and it had little white eyes.

"What are you?" he asked it.

The creature raised a leg and clawed its face, making a sound like a burp.

The soldier laughed. This seemed to scare the creature, and it backed away suddenly.

"Hey now, don't do that." He said, reaching a hand out to it. Slowly the creature crawled towards him, and he placed his hand on its head, petting it. His other hand reached for his boot.

"Good boy."

The creature purred and moved closer.

With sudden speed, the soldier grabbed his knife sheathed in his boot and impaled the creature through the back, pinning it to the table. Its shrieks filled the air, but he felt no sympathy for it.

"Thats for 17, you bastard."

He removed the knife and the creature tried to flee, but its spine was destroyed. It mewed and wailed as it slowly died. 21 smiled coldly and turned to go back to base, only to come face to face with another one.

"O-o-ok, just back off," he said, moving away himself.

When he felt he was back far enough, he turned and ran for it.

The alien sped after him, its long legs reaching out for his feet. Grabbing them, it caused him to trip. In seconds it was on his back, clawing and eating him. He screamed, but no one heard him.

-----------------

"Did you hear that?" 08 asked.

"Hear what?" Turner replied.

"It sounded like... never mind. I'm probably just imagining things."

The noise sounded again.

"I was right! It was a scream!" 08 exclaimed.

Turner motioned to the others. "Grab a weapon, guys. We're going to hunt these monsters down ourselves. Lets split into four groups of four. Two of you go that way," he said, motioning towards the stairs. "My two groups, follow me."

They moved out.

-----------------
Turners Group

They entered a small side room, which was dominated by a large window on the far side. 24 walked over and looked out at the falling snow and the dark sky. "I thought you said this was a desert world?"

Turner shrugged. "It was desert where I was. Hot, barren, dry. The climate must be different here."

"Hey guys, look at this!" 02 said, excited.

They all rushed over to him and looked behind the stacked crates. "My God!" Turner exclaimed.

What they saw was a tall purple structure, seeming to pulse with life. But that was not what amazed them the most. It was the small green alien.

It regarded them with 6 beady little eyes, the light reflecting off each of them. It was a fat creature, and it moved slowly, dragging itself across the floor.

The purple structure shook and suddenly spat out a dretch. Turner moved quickly and stamped on it, its black blood squirting across the floor. The green creature made a choking noise and then vomited black goo out. The projectile flew straight at 02's eyes. He stumbled backwards, screaming.

"IT BURNS! OH GOD I CAN'T SEE AND IT BURNS!"

Turner snarled. "Kill them both!"

The two groups opened fire on the creature and the egg, obliterating both in seconds. Two of the men picked up 02, who was now laying on the floor.

"Let's take him back to base, men." He activated his radio. "Hear that, Groups 3 and 4? Back to base now!"

-----------------

The mass of goo began to break open. Dretchs crawled on it, eating it to help their brother escape. With a roar, the monster was free. The dretches went to the next ball of goo, and the next, freeing each alien inside.

The largest of them stood in the doorway, its mass blocking out the lights from outside. It roared, and they all folowed it.

-----------------
The Base

They laid 02 on a medical bed, and the aid grabbed some sort of solvent. Taking a small dropper, he put 2 drops on each eye. "That should help him." he said, putting the medicine away.

07 ran in, panting. "Sir, we've got aliens on the way!"

"Ok, men grab your weapons! Get in formation!" Turner yelled. "How many of them are there, 07?"

The soldier shook his head. "Too many to count, sir. And there's some that we didn't see in the video."

"Joy," Turner muttered. He grabbed a shotgun and crouched behind a crate. They could hear them coming now.

"Get ready, men!"

All eyes were on the base entrance.

"Hold it... hold it..."

The aliens bashed the door open, swarming inside. Turner nearly dropped his gun when we saw how many there were. Dozens.

"FIRE!"

The soldiers blasted away at the creatures, but for each one they killed, there were two more coming in. "When they get close, use your shotguns!"

One of the turrets went down, ovewhelmed by a cluster of 4 dretches. Turner aimed and blew them all away. "Move back, men! Let the turrets help you!" They moved back about 20 feet, the alien swarm close behind. Finally the bulk of the turrets kicked into action, gunning the dretches down before anyone could even get a kill. Turner began to feel hopeful until the bigger aliens began to show up.

"We've got dragoons! Focus all your fire on them!"

One of them pounced at Turner, squishing him as it landed. He grabbed his knife and stabbed the creature in the belly, sliding the blade upwards. Warm guts poured out of the slit all over Turner. "Oh Jesus..."

He pushed the now dead creature off him and stood up, coated in black blood. He reloaded and opened fire on the other goons.

24 rushed past him, a canister on his back. Pressing the trigger on the gun, 24 created a wall of flames to buy them some time. 07 spotted a red alien bouncing off the walls in the distance. "What the heck?"

The alien leaped over 24's flame wall and attacked the turrets, sinking its teeth into the nest of wires at the base of each turret. "Kill it!" Turner yelled, but it was too late. The creature moved far to fast for any of Turners men to actually hit the thing. 09 rushed it, grabbing a leg and throwing the alien to the floor. Before he could do any damage, it flipped itself over and chewed through his legs. He fell to the floor, dead. Before it could move, another soldier pumped it full of lead. "Bitch."

Most of the dretches had been annihilated, and the goons were staying back. Turner and his men took a breather, making sure to watch for any movement among the alien ranks. They reloaded, and the medic team got to work on those who were injured.

"We can do this, men. Stay focused."

"Did you see what happened to 09? That thing made mincemeat out of his legs!"

"All the more reason to be careful, men. Now I have a plan. We need to split into 2 groups, one on each side of the aliens. Then I want to rush them. If we all focus our fire on one alien at a time, we can wipe them out in seconds. Any questions?"

No one had any. They split up, all ready to go. "On my mark....wait.....now!"

They rushed the goons, guns blazing. Roaring, the aliens retreated, leaping down the hall. They caught one in mid jump, its corpse dropping on top of another goon. Turner shot both of them in the head and continued running after the others. Another goon fell, its legs too wounded to carry it any farther. There were 2 left.

A loud roar filled the air, and the men stopped. "What was that?" 24 asked.

Turner went cold all over. "Retreat! Back to base!"

07 didn't move. "Sir, we've almost got-"

Turner grabbed the front of his armor and shook him. "NOW!"

They ran like mad, and the roar sounded again. Looking over his shoulder, Turner saw the tyrant come around the corner. "Run faster!"

24 felt a tingle at the back of his neck, and ducked. The tyrant swiped at the marine in front of him and tore his head from his shoulders. 24 pushed the body out of the way as to not stumble over it. The tyrant roared again.

"Turner to base! Open the portal to home! We're coming through. I repeat, we are coming through!"

-----------------

Doctor McGregor pushed a button and the door to the side room slid up. He went over to a computer and fiddled with it for a few seconds, opening the portal at the far wall.

"What is that?" McNabb asked.

"A larger version of a telenode. It allows us to send or receive large groups at once. Get your men ready. I think that monster will be coming with them."

-----------------

Turner made his men go through first. When it was only him and the techie left, he ordered him to set the last node to shut down after they went through.

"Not working sir. There's an error in the system."

"Can you work around it?"

"Maybe, sir. Lets see."

The tyrant rounded the last corner and rushed the base. "No time," Turner said, pushing the techie onto the node. In a flash of light he was gone.

Turner spun around and looked at the tyrant, then stepped backwards into nothingness.

-----------------

The creature followed Turner through the portal, but McNabbs men were waiting for it. They all fired in unison, and with a loud cry the alien died. Turner stood and brushed himself off.

"We're finished?" McNabb asked him.

Turner shook his head. "Far from it, sir. The party is just starting. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go take a shower."

-----------------

The End of Chapter 4

[Jet~]

MOAR CONTENTZ!!!!. Sorry for the nubishness of my post but this is simply amazing, seriously.

[khalsa]

Sigged

[frazzler]

You are God, Your writing is the bible and I am your disciple.

[DeathSkull]

@ Jed: Thanks dude. More is coming.... soon.

@Khalsa: Haha, thanks dude!

@Frazzler: Nah, I'm no God, just a normal dude with some writing skillz. This is my first actual fic since 2005-early 2006, and I didn't even finish that one =( But rest assured, I'll see this one through to the end =D

[your face]

go skully go! <3

[DeathSkull]

<3

[DeathSkull]

The Next Day

"Ok," McNabb said. "Tell me exactly how this portal thing works. We can send large groups of soldiers to and fro?"

Dr. McGregor shook his head. "No sir, not exactly. We can send large soldiers to the destination point, but they can't go all the way through unless there's telenodes on the other side. So if we have one telenode, it'll recieve one soldier at a time, two telenodes, 2 soldiers at a time. I think having 2 running at once is the best solution."

McNabb nodded. "I agree. Now there was something else you wanted me to see?"

"Yes, over here, please." The doctor walked over to a table draped with a large tarp. There seemed to be an object sitting in the middle. The doctor removed the tarp to reveal a orange-yellowish type of gun.

"What is this?" McNabb asked.

"This, sir," the doctor said, "is a new project I'm working on. I call this the Construction Kit. Basicly it allows you to modify and repair your base at any time."

"Tell me how it works."

Dr. McGregor picked it up. "Ok, lets say you want to move your base to another area. Push this button on the side to register the building of your choice for deconstruction, then go where you want to put the new building. Go through the list on this blue screen (it's a touch screen) and select what building you want to create. Then pull the trigger and you'll see a holoimage of the structure. If it's green, you can build it. If it's red, you can't, either because it's not close enough to a power source or the area is just not right. Once you are ready, pull the trigger again and the new building will start going up, while removing the old one at the same time!"

McNabb was speechless. He was amazed.

"Of course, this has it's limits. The kit has a recharge time, and it's longer or shorter depending on the size of the building being built. Uses energy, you know."

McNabb nodded. "How soon will this be ready?"

"Oh, within the week, probably."

---------------

Turner found McNabb outside, smoking a cigarette. He leaned against the wall, neither saying anything, just admiring the sky.

"You know, Turner..." McNabb said, "I don't even know your full name."

"Can't you look in my files, sir?"

"I could, but I'd rather ask you."

Turner smiled and extended his hand. "Mac Turner, at your service."

McNabb shook it and returned the smile. "John McNabb."

They lapsed into silence again, but it was a welcoming silence. In it they became freinds.

Jess poked her head out the door. "Almost lunch, guys. Hurry up."

She vanished back inside. Turner watched her through the glass.

"Oh, quit it."

"What?" Turner asked, glancing at McNabb. When he looked back, Jess was gone.

"You've been eyeballing her for the last week. Don't think I don't notice. I get paid to notice."

"Oh please. A soldier has to think about continuing the family line eventually."

"Yeah, if he thinks he's gonna get his balls eaten in the next battle."

Turner had to smile at that. "No, I don't plan on that happening. But in case you didn't know, I'm not immortal."

"You might as well be. We've got about 30 of you running amok in there."

Turner shook his head. "It's not the same, and you know it. Lets go get something to eat before they devour it all."

As they walked inside, McNabb said: "You know, if you're after her, then your clones should be after her as well, right?"

"Screw you."

"Hey, it's a legit question!"

---------------

After lunch, Turner dropped by Vid Tech. The place seemed abandoned. Sitting in a chair, he looked over all the video feeds from around the base. John was in his office, sending a report to the commander. Various soldiers wandered the halls. Turner was startled when someone knocked on the door.

"It's open."

Jackson walked in. "Hey boss. I was just looking for you."

"Well you found me. What's up?"

"Well, I've been watching the newest vid clips, and I wrote down a list of all the aliens and made up names for them." He procured an envelope from inside his shirt pocket and handed it to Mac. "Check it out anytime you want, boss."

"Thanks Jackson. Have you seen Jess?"

"No, sir. Not since lunch. I'm gonna go get back to my duties. See ya."

"Keep cool, Jackson."

Once he was gone, Turner opened the envelope and pulled out the sheet of paper. The list read as follows:

---------------

Granger- ?Builder Class? Not enough evidence.

Dretch- Basic Alien Infantry. Moves quickly and does a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Pretty weak though. Usually travel in packs.

Basilisk- They seem very possessive, holding their victims down while eating them (See Vid File relating to 21).

Marauder- A fast alien class. Unlike the Dretches and Basilisks, they dont wallwalk. Maybe they can't? They do bounce off the walls though, and they bite faster than any alien seen yet (See Vid File relating to 09).

Dragoon- A large black/maroon alien, capable of leaping long distances. Jaws powerful enough to crush a human skull with one bite. (See Vid Files 1-8, 10-16, 18-20 and 22-24 for Xeres System Attack #2).

Tyrant- Only seen twice, the Tyrant seems to be the alien powerhouse. They are about 2 times the size of a dragoon, walking with 6 legs in an upright position. 2 large claws capable of causing instant death. (See Vid Files 1-2 for Xeres System Attack #1, Files 1-8, 10-16, 18-20 and 22-24 for Xeres System Attack #2).

---------------

Turner folded the paper up and put it back inside the envelope just as Jess walked in.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?" he asked.

"Sure thing, boss. What do you need?"

"Make copies of this and make sure every one gets one? It's an updated alien class list."

"I'll do it." She poured a cup of coffee and took her place at the desk. "Going somewhere?"

Turner stopped in the doorway. "Yeah, I got stuff to do. And Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Call me Mac from now on."

---------------

McNabb was restless. It was night, but he couldn't go to sleep. Something kept bothering him, but he didnt know what. It was like somethign was out of place. After an hour of laying there, he got up and switched his computer on, browsing through the base logs. About halfway down he froze.

[Departure: Shuttle 3. Destination: Unknown. Pilot: Turner, Mac.]

He called Turners room, and he picked up after the 5th ring.

"Ello?"

"Mac, get your ass to my office. We've got a problem."

"What is it?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"I'll be right there. Should I get Jess up?"

"Why?"

"She can check the video files for anything suspicious."

"Ok, do it. Hurry up."

---------------

Turner rushed into the office. "Jess is working on the files. What'd you want me to see?"

McNabb showed him the log. "Tell me what that is, Mac."

Turner shook his head. "No idea. I'm here, obviously."

"Yeah, I can see that."

Jess ran in. "Come see this, guys. Quick."

---------------

McNabb slammed his fist on the table.

"Damn it all."

Jess shook her head. "Why would he do that? It makes no sense."

McNabb shrugged. "I don't know. Mac, go wake up the doctor so we can show him this. Then get the clones up. We need to see how many others are missing."

---------------

Dr. McGregor stroked his beard. "This makes no sense. This video implies that one of the clones went rogue, but that should be impossible!"

"You did say that there were possible glitches in the system, McGregor." John replied.

"Yes, I did."

"And you said you'd iron them out when they showed up."

The doctor sighed. "You saw the video. It's going to take more than some ironing out. He took key parts of the cloning machine with him. It'll take days or weeks to fix it."

Turner returned. "It's #13, John. 13 is missing. Since he looks just like me, it's no wonder he got out."

McNabb shook his head. "13, the unlucky number." He looked at the ceiling. "Why me, God?"

"The thing I don't get is," Turner continued, "why he would sabatoge the system?"

"Maybe the system screwed up his brain, and he viewed the cloning proccess as wrong or evil or something?" Jess offered.

"Maybe..." McGregor said. "Or..."

"Or what?"

"Play the video again."

Jess did.

"See? He only removes certain parts. And notice he doesn't leave anything behind. He takes it with him."

McNabb shrugged. "If we don't have the original parts it takes us longer to fix it. That's easy to figure out."

McGregor shook his head. "Thats not what I'm thinking."

"Well, what ARE you thinking?"

"I'm thinking he took those parts to make a machine of his own."

---------------

The entire base was put on alert. With the teleporter down and the rogue Turner Clone free to do as he pleased, everyone was on edge for the next week or so.

"McGregor, how's it coming?" McNabb asked.

"Almost done. Give me another day."

"Alright. We've got reports of strange activity at the Nexus 6 Fuel Depot in the Nexus System. I want to investigate."

"I can't work properly under pressure, McNabb."

"I'm not pressuring you, dammit. I'm just saying-"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Just give me a day."

---------------

"So, what do you say? Dinner in the colony tonight?" Mac asked.

She regarded him with a stare.

"Well, you know, it sure beats working around here... late nights and stuff. We both need some time off."

She said nothing.

"Well, maybe next week?"

Nothing.

"Oh screw it." Mac said, throwing a book at the poster. It connected with a thud and fell to the floor. The girl didn't seen to mind.

"Mac, get to my office."

"Ok, on my way."

---------------

"What is it, John?" Mac said, entering the office.

"I just wanted to let you know we'll be investigating the Nexus Fuel Depot soon, and to be ready." McNabb stood. "Lets step outside. I need a break."

"Are there aliens?" Mac asked, falling into pace with his commander.

McNabb shook his head and pushed the button that opened the base door. A soft breeze blew in, carrying an assortment of smells from the colony down the hill. McNabb lit a cigarette. "Smoke?"

"No thanks, John. I never got into it."

"Alright. We've got reports of strange incidents there. Untimely power outages, things like that. Nothing really big, or so I hope. You up for it?"

"Yeah, I guess. Not much of a choice, eh? I'm the one with the group of military clones."

"Come on, Mac, don't look at it like that."

"Yeah, I know. I guess I'm still feeling it from the attack."

There was silence. A soft breeze began to blow. Turner welcomed it.

"Can I ask you something, Mac?"

"Sure."

"What were you doing there?"

Turner raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

"At the base. I looked in the files. You were added to the roster at the last second."

Turner shrugged. "They didn't really tell me. If I had to guess, a replacement for a soldier who backed out. Can I ask you something, John?"

"Sure."

"What are my chances with Jess?"

It was McNabbs turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'm no counseler, Mac. Are you moving in on her?"

"Well, I was planning on launching an attack soon, but in the simulations I didn't do so well..."

They both burst out laughing.

"Mac, I suggest you just go for it and do your best. What's the battle plan?"

"Dinner, down at the colony."

"That's a sound strategy."

Jackson walked out. "Hey guys. What's up?"

McNabb shook his head. "Not much. Cigarette?" he asked, offering the pack.

"Nah, I never got into it."

The commander grumbled and put the pack back in his pocket. "Smart kids."

"But I'll not shy away from the occasional drink. Who's in? I got a small group ready to go."

McNabb crushed the cigarette. "I'm for it. Why not? Can't do anything till the doctor fixes his machine. Let's go. Coming, Turner?"

Mac shook his head. "I got something to take care of."

McNabb nodded. "Good luck. Come on Jackson. Let's go act manly for the waitresses."

The two walked off towards the colony bar. Mac ducked back inside and walked towards the elevators. You can do this, Mac. If you can handle hoards of aliens you can face one woman.

---------------
Video Tech Room

"Hey Jess."

She looked up. "Hey Mac. How're you?"

"Good... good. Whatcha doing?"

"The same thing I'm always doing. Sitting here watching these TV's. I think I'm gonna take a break here shortly, get some food."

Turner brightened up. "You wanna go down to the colony for dinner? It's on me."

"I don't think I can. Someone has got to watch these."

"Get Johns to do it?"

"I don't know..."

"Get Johns to do it."

"Is that a command, Mr. Turner? You seem awfully persistant about this. I'm wondering if this is a dinner break or a date..."

Turner went red. "Dinner.... date?"

Jess smiled. "Ok, I'm in. Let me grab a few things."

Turner stepped outside and grinned. YES!

She met him outside. "Come on, clone boy, before the resident winos drink all the beer up."

They walked down to the colony as the sun began to set.
---------------

The End of Chapter 5

[Shadowgandor]

My favorite, keep on writing

[frazzler]

Is it just me, or did you copy the whole Nexus 6 Mining Facility idea from me? Anyway, I really like your work, just try not to steal any of my other ideas. I have more of my own work up for display now, you should check it out.

[DeathSkull]

I had several ideas for Nexus, and Mining Facility is one of them. If you prefer, I'll change it to one of my other titles so it won't make me look like a thief (which I am not )

Edit: I went ahead and changed the name after looking at your story.

[Baconizer]

Wow. Fantastic, keep it up!

This stuff should go in the Trem Wiki. 

[khalsa]

Except don't really want public editing?

[Baconizer]

Couldn't you lock the page? Anyway, that was a joke.

But I am serious that this story rocks.

[DeathSkull]

Hey, thanks. Part 6 is on its way (I'm relaxing over teh weekend). Should be up Monday or so =)

[your face]

Awesome awesome.  I especially like the part where large soldiers can fit through the teleport!  Jk

(waits for part 6)

[DeathSkull]

While we're all waiting for Part 6, here's some story trivia:

-The Title:

The title of the story is taken from the line: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Fallout 3 has an achievement called The Bigger They Are... and I liked it so much I made the other half of the quote the title of this story.

-The Evolution Process:

Unlike the game, the aliens in this story do not evolve instantly. This is to give the story a bit more of a realistic effect, and it puts an end to comments like "Why don't all the Tyrants just rush Turner?" before they even start

-The Credit System:

 There is none. While it's understandable in the game, a story doesn't need one. Instead of having all the weapons availible at once, though, they will be created by the science team as the story progress.

-Why is there a Lucifer Cannon in Chapter 1?

The story was originally intended to be a one shot, but the readers apparently liked it so much I decided to continue it with other Chapters. Let's just say the Cannon was a one time experiment and it failed

-Does this mean there will be no more Lucifer Cannons?

Do bugs intentionally hit our windshields (minus the suicidal ones)? No. The Lucifer Cannon is to Tremulous like Peanut Butter is to Jelly. Nuff said.

-Turner Clones?

Someone has to explain why the entire human team looks the same

Reader Submitted Questions:

-Lol, giant portal-nodes? (Asked by your face)

Ok, this was an error on my part. I had an idea for opening a large portal at both the Home Base and Away Base, but after realizing it was too similar to Stargate (I don't think of these things while I'm writing) I decided to drop it... except I forgot to edit the Home Base portal out. Since I'd already posted the chapter, I threw in a somewhat plausible answer to this in the beginning of Part 5 (Where McGregor and McNabb talk).

Ok, that's it for now! Keep reading! Part 6....

Soon!

[Baconizer]

No! Breaks are not acceptable! I want content! Gogogo! 

[|VA|NoMoniter]

do the aliens have evos.. jokes jokes great story man

[DeathSkull]

The Next Morning

"Morning Mac." Jackson said. He was standing outside with McNabb and DJ.

"Morning..."

"You look wasted." Jackson added.

"Ya think?" Mac replied, running a hand through his hair. "I got carried away last night. Drank a beer too many-"

"Before or after she dropped you?" Jackson asked.

McNabb elbowed Jackson.

Mac shook his head. "We were fine. I brought her back, then returned to the bar, grabbed a few more beers. I found out my Sarge died last night."

"OReilly? Damn, man. I'm sorry."

McNabb and DJ also offered their condolences.

McNabbs radio buzzed. It was Dr. McGregor.

"System all ready. Send in a set up team."

-------------

Nexus 6

The shuttle landed, and the ramp went down with a hiss. The base builders exited the shuttle, only to be greeted by Nexus Security.

The leader stepped forward. "Thank you for coming. I'm Nathan Prezowski, Chief of Security. Uh... is this all you've got?"

"Nah, we're just the set up team. Where do we go?"

"Follow me," Prezowski said, leading them through the building. "We've got a nice platform over in the Filtering Section."

One of the men turned to the other. "I bet this guy is a great salesman. First he has a nice platform, then he talks us into buying it!"

The others snickered.

"Cut it out back there," the commander warned.

Prezowski motioned to the open area through the doorway. "This is our filtering tank here, and you can set your base up at the end. Any questions?"

They all shook their heads and got to work.

-------------

Turner and his clones came through first, then McNabb. "C-Kit worked flawlessly," the setup team leader said.

McNabb nodded. "Excellent. Where's the Security Chief?"

"Hello sir," said a voice behind him. McNabb spun around to see the Chief himself. "Nathan Prezowski." he said, extending his hand.

McNabb shook it. "John McNabb. This here is Mac Turner, my best soldier. And coming through the node now...Jessica Salek, Video Tech. She'll need access to your camera system."

Turner nodded at Prezowski and walked over to Jess. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"Someone has to watch the cameras."

"It's too dangerous here for you."

"I could say the same for you, Mac."

"I'm a trained soldier!"

"And I can take care of myself. I'll be fine."

"Dammit..."

"Oh hush. I know a beaten man when I see one."

"This isn't over."

"What're you gonna do," she said, raising an eyebrow, "punish me?"

Turner stared. "You're not flirting with me here, of all places?"

"Why not?" she replied, walking away.

Turner sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and went over to McNabb, who shook his head.

"Don't bother, Mac. Women will always have the last word."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it..."

"Shape up, pal. We've got aliens to kill."

The security chief looked at Mac strangely.

"What are you doing here?"

Mac raised an eyebrow. "I'm a soldier?"

Nathan shook his head. "You were here yesterday. I hired you and your soldiers to clean up at Karith Corporation headquarters."

McNabb frowned. "And they are...?"

"Our owners. Just a few miles away. You were supposed to report in today, and then head over there."

Mac shook his head. "It wasn't me... unless...."

"Unless what?"

"Unless it was Clone #13."

-------------

Nathan shook his head. "What? Clones? Don't play games with me."

McNabb grinned. "Oh, we're not. Activate the nodes!"

The telenodes began to hum, and one by one the clone soldiers appeared. They each had a rifle and a blaster, standard military issue.

"What in hell?" Nathan said, dumbfounded.

"Meet the Turner clones." McNabb said.

Nathan stared as they all assumed position. "You really must be kidding... how is this possible?"

McNabb shrugged. "Ask our lead scientist."

A man ran up to Nathan. "Sir, we've got a ship coming in!"

Nathan shrugged. "Let's go meet the new arrival."

-------------
The Hanger

The ramp lowered with a hiss, revealing none other than 13.

He walked down, heading straight to the security chief.

"We're ready. I'll receive payment as soon as we're finished."

Nathan nodded. "Very well."

Turner approached the security chief as 13 walked back to the ship. "What the hell? He's a Merc?"

Nathan shrugged. "I guess."

McNabb frowned. "He escaped a while back. I'd take him back in..."

Nathan shook his head. "He's got a bunch of men in armor in that ship. One wrong move and he'd blow us away."

"So he DID get his own clone machine!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"Our cloning machine was sabotaged a short while back. 13 did it. Why, we didn't know. Now we do."

"So... he wanted to make clones of himself?"

"Apparently."

"Strange..."

McNabb grinned. "Strange doesn't begin to describe it. If he's going there to wipe out any aliens present, I say let him do it. We could use the help. Now let's get back to base."

-------------
Base

"Hey guys," Jess said. "Look at this."

They moved over to the computer system. On one of the screens was a dretch.

"What's it doing?"

Jess smiled. "I had a soldier plant a small piece of meat there with a tracking device inside it. The dretch smelled it, found it and ate it. Now we can see where it goes. Easy way to find the base."

Mac nodded. "Good job. Why don't I think of these things?"

"Because I think of them first?"

"Ok, men. We're going to move out," McNabb said. "Two groups of eight. One takes the direct route, the other takes the back way. We're going to follow this tracker. Jess, update us via the comm."

"Will do." She placed her hand on Turners arm. "Be careful, Mac."

"I always am," he replied with a smile.

-------------

"This place seems rather big." 24 said.

"It's a fuel depot. You realize a lot of ships have to come through here and fill up?" 07 said.

"Yeah."

"Well that means a lot of fuel, which means a big facility."

"I'm not a second grader, you know."

"Cut the chatter," Turner said. "They'll hear us."

The group moved down the hall, eyes open and searching. "24, check your map."

"Dretch is in a basement room. Down the stairs in the next room, down the hallway straight ahead."

"Alright. McNabb, you got that?"

"Got it. We're on the other side, waiting."

"Lets go."

-------------

McNabb look at the door in the distance. "Ok, two of you move along those pipes there. Another guy on the other side. The rest of you, after me. Move out!"

They moved up to the door.

"27, open that."

The clone entered a code on the panel and the door slid up. He suddenly began screaming.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?!"

The clone turned around, and the others moved back. His skin was bubbling and sliding off his body. McNabb could see muscles and bone.

"Kill him."

They all fired at once, putting the clone out of his misery. They cautiously moved up to the doorway, spotting a round purple structure on the wall. They killed it and walked inside. The room was dim, due to the lack of any bright lights. The soldiers walked over to the opposite door. Large purple growths were covering it, as if to keep something out. 15 grabbed his knife and started cutting it down.

"There's not much here." 19 said.

McNabb nodded. "Look around the room for eggs or something. They're here somewhere..."

The door slid open, and Turner and his men came through. "What is going on? I heard screaming!"

McNabb motioned to the sizzling remains of 27. The acid had eaten away most of his flesh.

Turner made a face and looked away.

"Guys!" Jess said over the comm.

"What is it?"

"13 is requesting help at Karith Corp. He says he and his men are overwhelmed. There are more aliens there than there were at Niveus, from the sounds of it."

"Alright. Men, is the room clear?"

"We didn't find anything, sir."

"Good. Let's go."

-------------

The dretch watched them as they moved away. When most of them had trickled out the door, it attacked.

-------------

Turner spun around when one of the men started screaming. He rushed forward, grabbing the dretch around the middle and throwing it at a wall. It hit with a splat, it's guts smeared on the surface as it slid downwards.

"Nasty bugger. It was watching us," he said. "You ok?"

The clone nodded. "Just a bite, nothing big. I thought I was done for!"

Turner smiled. "Not with me around. Let's get to Karith, men!"

"HOORAH!" they shouted, marching back to the base.

-------------
The end of Chapter 6

Author Note: This took longer than I would have liked, due to some real life stuff. In order to get it out a bit faster, this chapter is shorter than the others by a little bit. Don't worry, the next one should make up for it