My First Story. -Escaped Creature

[frazzler]

General Wilkinson’s standard issue trousers fluttered slightly as the space shuttle entered some turbulence. It wasn’t that uncommon for there to be a small gathering of gas or liquid in the middle of sub-space. The shuttle began to lose speed as it approached the Nexus mining facility. Apparently some sort of huge six-legged black creature had attacked the facility. Every single form of life was destroyed. Empty. Everything was gone. The miners, the pot-plants and even the meat in the canteen had disappeared. It was General Wilkinson’s job to deem the station ready to continue progress or evacuate. Wilkinson thought that he wasn’t even contributing to the decision to shut down the mining facility. A creature had just devoured every single life form on a mining station the size of a small city. That doesn’t seem very safe. Once the shuttle got about 5 meters from the airlock, a puff of steam was released with a hiss as the steel doors reached out to clutch the shuttle. General Wilkinson got up from his seat and shuffled his collar. With a few steps of the Generals long strides, he had already exited the shuttle and reached the second door of the airlock.

He began to wonder what this creature would look like. The reconnaissance team had managed to capture the beast and it was going to be investigated. This thing could pounce a staggering 50m! ‘The amount of power released from its legs must be able to shatter bones’ thought the General. Before opening the second door he checked that his blaster was still there. With a quick pat on his belt, the General was ready. He entered the six digit code into the console and the door snapped open with an even louder hiss than the first door. When the compressed steam had cleared, the face of Major Joan’s face filled the gap. “Evening....err...morning sir! I suppose your wondering what all this ruckus is about eh? Right this way.” The Major chirped.
“I just want to sign these forms and get the hell out of here. I thought we sorted out these bastards after the incident in Karith.” The Generals deep voice snapped back. The Major lead Wilkinson through a maze of winding paths and hallways lined with pipes, doors, control panels and fuse boxes. Wilkinson had no idea where he was going, let alone how the Major could navigate this labyrinth. Eventually, they rounded a corner to reveal a sliding platform. They were designed to carry miners from one area of the station to the next. The Major stepped onto the platform first and punched in an incoherent amount of numbers into the control panel for the platform. The General stepped onto the platform and the Major pressed ‘start’.

The platform began to move along the electronic flooring that powered it. After a couple of seconds the platform reached top speed. The force was so strong that the Major had to grab the handrail to avoid falling over. When the platform began to approach its final destination it slowed to a crawl before eventually stopping. When both the men stepped from the platform the room in front of them seemed gargantuan compared to the winding hallways that they had followed earlier. The walls in this room were the same dull steel as the shuttle General Wilkinson had arrived in. In the center of the room stood a huge glass box, the cage that supported it was clearly made of the patented United Earth Space Militia (UESM) titanium-steel compound. This box was a masterpiece of security in itself, and for a good reason. Inside the box stood the most hideous thing General Wilkinson had seen in his entire life.
A huge black beast was being housed in this box. With its six black legs the size of a fully grown man, the only thing stopping it from eating the General was the 8 inch thick bullet proof glass. The demons fangs seemed to be made of some sort of metal. The huge bone plate on the front of its head was obviously for ramming its victims. With the force from its legs, that plate was like a rhinoceroses’ horn. The monster smacked its bone plate into the front pane of glass. It creaked and bent so much the General thought that it might break, but one of the troops guarding the cage gave the glass a smack with the butt of his rifle. “Cut that out you fat lard!” He yelled at the demon. It must have heard him because it stopped immediately. “Get me to those fucking forms Major!” The General snapped impatiently.

Once the Major had lead the General into a small work space, Wilkinson was happy to scrawl his signature on the evacuation forms and get out of the cramped office. When he returned to the wide open room once again, both men were so struck with awe at how massive the space was compared to the cramped room was that they had just come out of; they didn’t even notice that something was very wrong. When the General took his first step, he heard a crunching sound. It was the sort of sound that glass makes when it meets boots. When the Major turned to face the box, his jaw dropped so far that the General needed to scoop it off the floor. Shards of glass glimmered in the bright lights on the roof above. They scattered the floor all around the box. The front panel of glass that the monster had been bending earlier had splintered everywhere. When the Major went to phone for the marines, the General stopped him and pointed to the carnage that had ensued in a matter of seconds.

Bodies of good soldiers were splattered beyond recognition. Body parts were smeared so thoroughly that they stuck to the walls and even the roof. The one marine that was injured the least appeared to be a torso with some sort of blob for a head and was missing all of its other limbs. “My god...” Wilkinson muttered. “What the fuck happened here?”
“The Dragoon is loose.” Major Joan replied.
“Great. You named it. Now it thinks you like it” The General jokingly responded.
“Take their weapons. We will need them later” The Major ordered. Even though General Wilkinson was of a higher rank, he followed the order. Reaching for the ‘intact’ Marine, Wilkinson grabbed a grenade from the soldier’s belt. After a few minutes of searching, both men had managed to recover a shotgun, two rifles and a mass driver. The chaingun, which was meant to be the weapon to keep the Dragoon in order, had been impaled through its previous wielders chest. The body of the chaingunner now hung lifelessly from a fuse-box. “Now how will we get back? The fuse-box for the platform is screwed” Major Joan complained.
“We walk” The General ordered. And with that, they moved out.


They must have walked along the sliding platforms track for at least an hour before they could see the other end. “It is about fucking time!” Joan yelled.
“Keep it down. That thing isn’t stupid” Wilkinson reacted. They climbed over the ledge and began to squander around the labyrinth of corridors and hallways trying to find the airlock that they had come in through. Wilkinson cocked his shotgun, hoisted it over his shoulder and nodded to the major. Joan loaded both rifles, tossing one to Wilkinson. He kept the other rifle and holstered the mass driver in his belt. Joan threw his body around the corner and began to fire randomly throughout the hall. “Scream, aim and fire Wilkinson!” Joan shouted to his comrade.

When Wilkinson snapped his head around the corner, he was astonished to find the Dragoon pouncing faster and faster towards Joan. The short hallway only took the Dragoon about two and a half pounces to reach Joan. By the time the creature had reached him, the Major had managed to holster the rifle and take out his mass driver. With five quick blasts to the face, the Dragoon was hurt. Green blood began to drip from the face of the alien. The Dragoon swiped its massive claws in front of its face in an attempt to stop the pain. It stumbled forward and its claws bumbled everywhere. A stray swipe managed to pierce the armor of Major Joan and the now helpless body of the man was flung from side to side as the Dragoon flailed hopelessly through the air. The General was so stunned he had almost forgotten to take out his weapon.

He ran forwards, rifle in arms, releasing a hailstorm of lead into the chest of the beast. A few bullets bounced off the steely skin of the monster, but most of them managed to deal some small cuts into the Dragoon. Realizing that the body of the creature was far too thick to puncture, the General threw away the empty rifle and whipped his shotgun into his arms. He jumped at the wall closest to the dragoon and kicked off a control panel. He soared through the air before landing on the Dragoons back. “Let’s see how you like it!” Wilkinson roared as he used an entire magazine of 6 shells into the skull of the Dragoon. With a final moan, the alien fell to the floor, its gratuitous corpse slumping lifelessly. The once mighty demon lay in a pool of its own green blood. “You’re an ugly fucker aren’t you?” The General snapped at the defeated alien.

When the General realized he had kicked the control panel to the airlock, he rushed for the door. The slow-moving doors took at least 20 seconds to close. Just as Wilkinson reached the airlock, he remembered Joan. When he reached the body of the Major, he soon discovered the extent of the injuries he had sustained. A huge gash in Major Joan’s chest was pouring blood into the soldiers lap. The General hoisted the dying man into a fireman lift and carried him off to the airlock. By the time he reached the doors, they had already closed. His only chance of escaping this hellhole had vanished. The General lay down the Major and tore a sleeve from his shirt. He wrapped the sleeve around the wound to reduce the pressure and slow the bleeding.

“You’re dying. We need to get you to a medical station. There’s one on my shuttle, but the airlock is stuffed.” Wilkinson said.
“There’s a couple of…” The Major stopped to cough up a red spitball.
“A couple of escape pods on the west side of the mining facility” Joan slurred
“Not enough time, we need to get you some supplies.” Wilkinson countered.
“If we can’t make it in time…Then kill me now” Joan said. Wilkinson tightened the knot around Joan’s chest and returned him to his shoulder. He was a heavy man, at least 90kg, but General Wilkinson knew that he couldn’t let Joan die. It was at least a kilometer to the escape pods. It was going to be one hell of a long walk.

[n@p]

Beautiful language, enjoyed the reading. One little thing (yeah, I'm picky 'bout it) :
Howdoya stick a mass driver in a holster on the belt? It would be inconvenient for you to walk with it hanging from your leg down to the floor...

[Archangel]

mass drivers are hueg liek xbawx

[DeathSkull]

Not bad at all. I think might have been a few iffy parts concerning spelling and presentation, but I enjoyed it. Maybe some more? =)

[frazzler]

More content on the way. Working on fixing these mistakes. I had no idea how big a mass driver was. I assumed it was about the size of the rifle. Maybe a little bigger.

[player1]

plz note that each individual speech should be its own paragraph (and the blank lines between paragraphs really help to make the text easier to parse)

gl & cheers

[n@p]

mass drivers are hueg liek xbawx

hmm, maybe yes, but I'd say it's a bit more Freudian. It's as long as the true instrument of PWNage must be. I can't guess whether it impresses girls, though.

[frazzler]

General Wilkinson’s legs ached from carrying his wounded comrade throughout the alien scourged mining facility, Nexus. He thought that his legs would collapse from the strain. With his shotgun rattling against his leg with every step, General Wilkinson carried on through the pain. He knew that if he didn’t get Major Joan to the escape pods soon enough, then Joan would die. Wilkinson decided to stop for a quick rest. He lay the dying Major down in a corner before tossing his shotgun next to him.
“I don’t think we are going to make it” Joan coughed.
“And why is that?  Not feeling so good?” the General asked.
“Well obviously. *cough*, not to mention that there are more of those things out there” Joan moaned.
“MORE? Are you kidding me? That last thing ate every single life form on this place!”
“No it didn’t.”
“What do you mean, I read the damn report-“
“They don’t eat their prey. They kill them and then burrow into the skin. They use their victims as hosts. Once they find a decent host, then they hibernate. *cough*, they are like a disease. They live inside them. They use their prey to evolve. The longer they are inside, or the more hosts they can find, the stronger they become” Major Joan explained.
“You mean that the giant black thing, the-the-the Dragoon, or whatever…It started off as some little bug?” The General retorted.
“They start off as bugs, yes. We call them dretches.” Major Joan explained.
“That’s great. Just great. Not only do I have to worry about giant pouncing things, there are bugs as well. I hate bugs!” General Wilkinson complained.
“Actually, theres more”
“Just stop talking. Seriously”
“They start as bugs, and then they can evolve to a pink, snake like creature. We know them as Basilisks. The Basilisks have an advanced form that can spray a toxic gas. Don’t get too close to them or they will grab you. And then there is no escaping. After the Basilisk comes the Marauder. These things move so damn fast that if you spot one, then there won’t be much time to shoot it before it pounces from wall to wall and gets you. Luckily for us, they come in a fancy red color, so they aren’t too hard to miss.” Major explained.
“You knew about this all along? You didn’t even tell me!” General Wilkinson questioned.
“Look, give me a break; I’m dying for Christ’s sake! After the Marauders there are the Dragoons. You have already met these, but watch out for their advanced counterpart. They can spit a poisonous barb. As far as we know, that’s about all you need to know.” The Major then proceeded to vomit up significant amount of blood.
“Stop talking. And not just because I don’t like what I hear” General Wilkinson winced at his own words.
“Look, I’m useless to you now. You need to find the escape pods, get back to Earth and warn them.” Major Joan pleaded.
“I’m not leaving you behi-“
“JUST GO! I’ll only slow you down.” The Major used his last stores of energy as he reached out his hand and offered the mass driver to Wilkinson. The General snatched the weapon from Major Joan before firing the last round in the magazine into the poor souls head. General Wilkinson couldn’t bear to kill a perfectly good comrade and a loyal friend. Wilkinson knew that too many had died here in too little time. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the demons got him as well.

With rage and regret as his fuel, General Wilkinson marched through hallway after hallway, not really caring what he might find. The escape capsules were just around the corner, but that didn’t provide any comfort. With weapons rattling from his body, the General spun around the last corner. What he saw next didn’t come as much of a surprise to him. After today, not much would. A stinking green carcass was hung over the control panel to release the escape pods. When the General approached the stinking heap to investigate, he was shocked to find that the decaying pile of filth was actually a human of some sort. When he lifted what he assumed to be the head of the body, he found that the man was wearing a mining helmet when he died. This man was a miner. He had died and been infected, or diseased, or decomposed or something. As the General went to fling the carcass off of the control panel, he almost pissed his pants.

When he went to fling the rotting man from the electronic system caging his only hope for freedom, he was shocked to find the ‘dead’ man staring him in the face and grabbing his arm. General Wilkinson shook the man off his sleeve and stepped back. The once deceased man stood up from the console and slumped its body towards the General. General Wilkinson immediately took his shotgun from its holster. He aimed it at the miner and prepared to fire. The thought of shooting an innocent man crippled the General. The one thing that could never be taken away had disappeared. General Wilkinson’s sanity was slowly drifting away. He needed to get out of this place. If he couldn’t pull the trigger, then he wasn’t going to die. The General flicked the barrel of his shotgun downwards, bringing the butt of his weapon slamming into the miner’s skull. There was a crack and squeal as the miner finally slumped to the floor for the last time.

When the General stepped over the man to activate the escape pods, there was a kinder surprise waiting in the miner. As he lifted his leg over the top of the miner’s chest, a long red leg reached its way from the rotting man. Wilkinson snapped his legs back to their original position and cocked his shotgun. When he aimed it at the leg and fired, the limb had already disappeared. In fact, the alien had hauled the body that was attached to the leg out of the carcass and leaped at the General. The shot that was intended to hit a little leg about the size of an arm had come into full contact with the torso of a creature that resembled a spider with a much larger torso and a much sharper head.

Wilkinson knew straight away that this was a Marauder. As he cocked his shotgun once more and aimed it towards the beast, he was blown off his feet before he could pull the trigger. A concentrated blast of electricity had seemed to travel through the alien’s body before exiting out its mouth. It had started flowing in the light blue sections of its legs before gathering speed and power through the body. The electrical blast sent the general sprawling to the ground.
“Now you can shoot lightning? What planet kicked you out?” General Wilkinson chuckled. He threw the shotgun to his side and exchanged it in favor of the mass driver.

The time it took General Wilkinson to do this, was enough time for the Marauder to pounce from the floor, rebound off a wall and land over the soldier. It opened its jaws wide and the jagged teeth of the beast seemed to carry on forever. There must have been at least 16 rows of teeth. Its breath stank of rotting flesh and its saliva was a lovely shade of purple. The alien seemed to be sniffing Wilkinson as if it was searching for something. It was as if only one particular scent would tempt the Marauder to devour the General. It was looking for fear. General Wilkinson slid the barrel of his mass driver into the already gaping mouth of the alien. The cold steel must have angered it, because it clenched its teeth onto the weapon and let out a fearsome growl. It was like playing tug of war with a very determined Tyrannosaurus.

“I have no fear…” General Wilkinson exclaimed before sending a blast of deteriorated uranium into the monsters brain. The back of the Marauders head sprayed green blood and red scraps of flesh all across the control panel for the escape pods. The once gleaming chrome of the keypad was redecorated with red and green, which of course made a very distinct shade of shit. The keypad seemed to take its new color quite well. Of course, until it began to melt away. The acidic compound that the alien’s blood was comprised of seemed to eat away at the sturdy metal. In the time it took General Wilkinson to get to his feet and face the panel, it had melted away.
“You, stupid, meltifying, shit blooded, fucking alien!” General Wilkinson shouted at the top of his lungs.

Something must have heard him because he could no longer hear himself talking. Instead the sound of his voice was replaced with the thunderous booming of heavy footsteps. They seemed to echo throughout the entire compound for about 30 seconds before they suddenly stopped. What General Wilkinson heard next was even more terrifying then everything Wilkinson had encountered so far put together. When the pounding in Wilkinson’s ears stopped, he quite literally shat his pants at the next sound he heard. A gigantic roar that sounded like a baby from a black bear and a bull elephant echoed around the room and nearly burst his skull. He managed to establish that the sound had come from the corner that he had just come around. General Wilkinson smoothed out his shirt and reloaded his weapon.



-OMG!

[frazzler]

Does anyone want more content?

[Basilo]

yes.

[red*kitty]

HELL YEA

[Pazuzu]

A bit late, don't you think?

[red*kitty]

nope i think its jsut right at that time