Planet Arkadia Storyline/English/3.3 Hunted by Death

3.3 Hunted by Death

Date: 8 FEB 3008 Time: 1102hrs Location: Northern Sentosa Sundari wiped the sweat from her eyes. She was slowly excavating an artifact at Jaguar Dig in the far north west of the continent. The sun was high in the sky and her stomach rumbled periodically, reminding her that she needed to eat. Despite the attacks across the rest of the continent, many of the Digs were still unthreatened. She stood up, stretching when the automated turret suddenly kicked into life, deep booms rolling across the ruin as it fired round after round. Sundari reacted instantly, abandoning her work and ordering the nearby archaeologists to retreat to the teleporter. She raced off to find Lieutenant Moshane, whose platoon had been assigned to guard the Dig. She heard weapons firing as she ran. Moshane had deployed his platoon around the Dig and they had opened fire shortly after the turret. Sundari had nearly reached Moshane’s position when she heard a scream off to the left. She changed direction and rounded a corner, only to find herself face to face with an Oratan standing over the archaeologist it had just killed. She drew her Herman ASI 30 but the creature moved like lightning, slapping the weapon from her hand and lunging forward to wrap its thick hands around her throat. As it lifted her from the ground, she pulled her blade from its sheath and stabbed hard at the Oratan, her blade skating across its armour before penetrating deep into the creature’s neck. She slipped out of its grip as it fell to the ground, gurgling as it released its last bloody breath. Sundari was trembling with shock as she retrieved her handgun. She went to find Moshane as the humans slowly retreated back to the teleporter, the defensive circle of troops drawing inwards, shielding the civilians as they made their escape. Sundari finally found Moshane as the last of the civilians stepped into the teleporter. She caught the Lieutenant’s arm as he began ordering his troops to evacuate. ‘Lieutenant, I can’t go back to Celeste Harbour yet. I have to make sure my assistants and the archaeologists at the other Digs are safe. They need to retreat too. We can’t leave them alone out here.’ ‘What? You can’t mean to teleport around by yourself after what we’ve seen? I can’t let you do that, its madness.’ In a single smooth motion he calmly raised his weapon and killed an Oratan as it broke through the perimeter. ‘Then come with me,’ Sundari said. ‘Whether you come or not, I am going to do what I can before it’s too late.’ Moshane stared at her a second then swore under his breath as he realised she was serious. ‘I’ll bring a squad, but we’re not hanging around if we are engaged by the enemy.’ Most of the troops had now returned to the city and only a single squad remained, holding off the Oratan. No further conversation was possible as the Oratan closed in around them. Moshane deftly altered the teleporter’s destination coordinates and ordered the remaining troops inside. He activated the machine just before the Oratan swarmed over the defenders. They appeared at Cheetah Dig to the west, and quickly discovered that they were too late. Hundreds of bodies lay strewn through the Dig, mostly Oratan but with a scattering of humans who hadn’t managed to escape. They moved on rapidly, travelling from teleporter to teleporter. Sometimes they reached a Dig in time to warn the people but, more often than not, they arrived to find the settlement abandoned, the inhabitants having escaped or been killed. Moshane had only once suggested returning to Celeste Harbour but Sundari had ignored him, grimly setting the teleporter for the next Dig. At Mamba Dig, Moshane finally called a halt. The sun was low in the sky and long shadows stretched over the Dig as Sundari and the squad gathered together. ‘Dr Zhen, I don’t think we’re going to find anyone else. We’ve done all we can. We need to get back to the city.’ Reluctantly, Sundari nodded her head. Moshane signalled to his Sergeant, who moved to set the teleporter’s coordinates for Celeste Harbour. ‘Sir!’ The alarm in the Sergeant’s voice instantly caught Moshane’s attention. ‘The teleporter! It’s dead.’ ‘What do you mean dead?’ Moshane demanded. ‘We just came through it two minutes ago.’ ‘Sir, it still has power. It’s not a problem with this teleporter. It appears that the network’s control system has been shut down.’ Sundari gazed south towards Celeste Harbour, wondering why Harvir would shut down the network. She turned to Moshane and could see that he was thinking the same. An Oratan war cry ripped through the silence and Sundari realised how vulnerable they were without a safe escape route. Moshane reacted immediately. ‘We go west,’ he ordered. ‘That cry came from the south, so we’re likely cut off from Implacable and Dependable Firebases, probably Formidable as well, and there’s no support in the other directions. If we go west we should be able to make it to Sanctuary Cove.’ They set off at a run but didn’t get far before the Oratan appeared behind them. The creatures gained ground quickly and it wasn’t long before the squad was involved in a running battle. Sundari ran and fought with them, her heart aching each time another of the troops was killed. She was already tiring and they had a long way to travel. A glance at Moshane confirmed his squad was faring no better. ‘We have to make a stand here,’ he told her as they reached a large rocky outcrop. ‘They’ll cut us down one by one if we keep running. We should be able to hold them here long enough to give you a good start. Head northwest from here and don’t stop for anything. Go, now. Run!’ ‘I’m not going to leave you to die!’ ‘If you stay you’ll die as well. Don’t let my troops throw their lives away in vain. Go!’ Sundari turned and ran, hot tears sliding down her cheeks, knowing that the troops would have been back at Celeste Harbour if it wasn’t for her. She looked back only once, catching sight of Moshane standing tall and proud amongst his troops. It was a sight she’d remember for the rest of her life. She ran until every step became agony and the handgun at her belt felt as though it weighed a ton. She was on the verge of exhaustion and with Sanctuary Cove still a long way off she knew she had to find shelter. In the light of Arkadia’s triple moons she spotted a cave on a hillside. With the last of her energy she entered the cave; barely taking the time to check it was safe before collapsing into sleep. She was woken by a noise from outside the cave. Realising she was trapped, she quietly raised her ASI 30. She didn’t have much ammo left but was determined to make it count. A shadow crossed in front of the cave and she fired by reflex. The shadow disappeared, dropping out of sight. ‘Hold your fire!’ Recognising the voice, she bolted to the cave entrance and emerged into the night. A bloodied Moshane was climbing to his feet before her, flanked by the last member of his squad. ‘Moshane! I’m so sorry, I was sure you’d been killed. How did you get here?’ ‘Not now,’ Moshane growled, ‘we have to move. They’re right behind us.’ ‘Where’s your rifle? And the rest of your equipment?’ ‘We ran out of ammo and the weight was slowing us down. We had to drop them.’ Sundari fell silent and they started running once again. She concentrated on following Moshane’s lead, trying to ignore the sounds of the Oratan gradually growing louder behind them. She ran in a daze, losing track of time and how far they had run. As they crested a small rise, a faint blood-red tinge began to stain the sky as dawn approached. ‘There it is,’ Moshane said. Sundari looked up, noticing the ocean for the first time. On the horizon she could just make out the island of Sanctuary Cove. They ran on, parallel to the beach so they remained in cover, until they could see the slim sandbar that connected the island to the mainland. They broke cover, racing for the sandbar, but as soon as they emerged a gunshot echoed across the beach. The trooper behind Sundari collapsed onto the sand, dead before he hit the ground. ‘Run!’ She screamed at Moshane. They sprinted across the beach towards the water as shots kicked up sand all around them. The Oratan were quick, gaining ground alarmingly fast as she entered the water a step behind Moshane and dived deep. She swam as far as she could underwater with shots hissing through the water around her. When she surfaced, she looked around frantically for Moshane. He floated to the surface a moment later, the water around him clouded red with blood. With a sob she rolled him over, his sightless eyes staring at the sky. It was too much for her. She swam forward until she could stand on the sandbar. Snarling, she drew her handgun and turned back towards the Oratan. Soaking wet, standing in waist deep water with her hair plastered to her face, she took aim at the leading Oratan back on the beach. But before she could pull the trigger her target’s head exploded in a shower of blood and brains.