Impulse

'Secure it. Now.' Came a quiet voice over static in Jackson's ear.

'Yessir.' He mumbled carefully into his mic, positioned cleverly over his balaclava. Raising his gun, a finely crafted HK12 rifle, Jackson carefully swept around the corner. Nothing more than a shadow revealed his presence, and it was a dim one at that.

Ordinary routine. Some [wagon] civilian had called in about 'aliens' in her apartment. She said that she coulda sworn that a black, slithery thing with huge teeth about the size of her leg crawled up her furnace and into her ventilation system.

Jackson belonged to ACT, or Alien Counter-Resistance Team. Poor title at that, seeing as they were always dealing with countless Nevada people calling in about so called 'aliens.'

What a joke.

All he knew is that it paid well, and he didn't actually have to fight anybody.

'Jackson, give me stat on floor one. Anything in the elevator?' The static COM channel whispered in his ear.

'No, sir.' Jackson replied. This, of course, was a lie. He hadn't checked. For all he knew, the entire damn Swiss hockey team could be in that elevator. All he knew is that if it didn't open up, it wasn't on the first floor.

'Give me updates and report in every two minutes,' the COM cackled in. 'Stay sharp!' The sergeant said a little loudly.

Their leader, Maj. Sgt. Brian S. Shepherd was into this stuff. Rumor was that he actually kept 'alien' samples from missions for his own personal studying.

Joke. Funny. Real riot.

Jackson gave a look at his watch. Brilliant. It read midnight on January 8th, 2107. He was damned sick of this, and tired to boot. Giving a casual glance over his shoulder, he saw his buddy Peter scoping out the clear-metal door to the apartment. It was relatively fancy; those kinds of doors cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. At least the caller wasn't a redneck for a change.

Alpha team was way on the ninth floor, where the caller was. There were only ten floors. Beta was on Ten. Charlie took seventh, and Delta was on fifth. Omega team, on the other hand, was on first. This was Peter and Jackson. They figured it very peculiar indeed if a civilian walked by and saw two soldiers decked out in combat gear and carrying HK12's, highest-grade weapons in the world.

'Conta - Never mind.' Came a hiss from Delta.

Two minutes later, all teams checked in. Everybody looked fine. Peter's biosigns looked fine on Jackson's Team Relay device fitted over his goggles.

Just another walk in the park.

Pulling out his knife, Jackson tested the edge on an unfortunate secretary's desk. It left a deep gash with little pressure. Good. It was just habit to check; it didn't really have much of a practical purpose anymore. Nowadays, they were a last defense.

All of the sudden a sharp shot came from above. It didn't sound HK12, which was concerning. It sounded like a 9mm, which was a popular civilian handgun. Certainly not ACT grade weaponry.

'Delta, requesting backup! Rogue civilian, rog - HeahhahrRAAAARGH!' A hideous scream and gurgling came from across the COM. Jackson looked up involuntarily. "Holy...what did that to them?" Jackson thought. Peters biosign [bleep]ed, but quickly went to normal. Jackson swore loudly to himself (and Peter) and switched to Delta HUD. Both biosigns winked off.

'Charlie, Omega, get your sorry [wagon] up their NOW!' Shepherd yelled over the COM. 'You aren't getting paid by the hour!'

Peter legged it up the stairs with Jackson in tow. Switching their HK12's off their safety, they proceeded with caution. From the third floor up, they moved as quietly as men in combat gear could.

As they moved to the top of the fourth story staircase, Jackson nearly wretched. A foul smell befouled the air. It smelled like salty blood washed over onions. Putting his eye to the scope of his rifle, Peter quickly scanned the area.

'Delta team found, KIA, sir.' Jackson said calmly. It took great control. Delta team wasn't a team anymore, nor did they even look human. Their corpses were found in a corner near the elevators, and both of their bodies were completed shred. Blood pooled beneath them.

'Charlie team reporting in. I've got nothing...sir, it looks like - Oh my - Damn, the little rogue jumped out the window!' Charlie came in. Peter and Jackson rushed to the apartment (reported to be E707) and looked over the balcony with Charlie team. Sure enough, there lay a mangled and destroyed body on the sidewalk. Whatever was left of it was spattered within a twelve foot radius.

'Looks like the bastard went head-first...' Charlie said with an air of pure disgust.

'Rappel down there, ASAP. This women is another crazy, we'll be down soon. And use your ropes, soldiers, we don't want some civilians to be calling in this mess.' Shepherd barked.

Jackson turned around and really did wretch, but held the bile down. What a crappy night. First, a bad job, then two of his buddies die, then some kind of sheer idiot goes and splats himself all across the sidewalk. Straightening his grey helmet, Jackson coolly turned back to the scene and attached his rope between the metal bars of the balcony. The team then proceeded to rappel down to the site, keeping HK12's in hand and well armed. Jackson and Charlie 1 and 2 secured the area while Peter checked the body.

It was night out. There was no moon, nor stars, and the faintest of cold breath blew against their faces. Charlie 2 shivered. Their gear, while it could stop all manner of attacks, provided no insulation of warmth. Kevlar wasn't exactly warm in the first place, either.

'yeah, sir...this body is messed up.' Peter said over COM. 'it looks like he's still twitching...Oh wait is that -?'

Jackson turned around just in time to see a slimy black snake, covered in ichor, wrap around Peter's armored head.

_____________________________________________________________

Jackson stood from his kneeling position, pointing the HK12 straight at Peter's head.

'Get it off me, get it off me!' Shouted Peter as he frantically tried to get the slimy beast off his head. Charlie 1 and 2 looked at each other. Even though they could blast this thing here and now, too many civilians were nearby and Peter's head, too, was annoyingly in the way.

'Status report!' Shepherd barked into COM. 'What the hell is going on down there?'

'We've got contact!' Replied Jackson. Tapping his helmet once, Jackson switched back over to Omega HUD. Peter's biosigns were doubled; like there were two heartrates inside of him. 'Peter's snared by this, this thing, sir! We can't shoot, too many civilians, and there is NO way in hell we can shoot that thing off of Peter's face.'

'Requesting permission, sir.' Charlie 1 said coolly. Jackson turned to him and shouted (not over COM) 'Are you daft, soldier? Are you going to shoot Peter in the head just to kill that slime?' Charlie 1 and 2 rounded on him. 'We need to do something, Omega 1! We can't let that thing escape!'

Jackson opened his mouth to argue when Shepherd barked in, 'Denied, just keep him under wraps.' Jackson flipped COM on again. 'Yes, sir.' And quickly shut it back off. Giving a rude gesture to Charlie Team, he rushed to Peter's side as he collapsed on the ground. Charlie 1 and 2 secured perimeter again as Jackson pulled his nylon bungie rope from his belt and an injection of morphine. 'Hold still, hold still!' Jackson said frantically as he cleaned the needle. Nonetheless, Peter writhed in pain.

Moments later, Alpha and Beta teams came rushing out of the building. Shepherd rushed towards the scene, slinging his own HK12 over his shoulder.

'Morphine!' Shepherd yelled. It was becoming awkward; civilians were stopping and staring. Jackson rushed to follow Shepherds orders, and rain began to fall.

The rain pattered onto the scene, running the streets with red as it washed the blood from the concrete. Both of Peter's biosigns (the new one and the old one) were changing. Peter's was declining as the other grew stronger. Morphine barely even slowed the affect, and soon Peter stopped writhing. As he lay there, his breath came in rattled gasps. Occasionally, his leg twitched.

'Come on, Peter...don't die on me.' Jackson muttered. There was nothing he could do though, and Shepherd raised a hand and called over Charlie 1.

'Yes, sir?' Charlie 1 said casually, switching the safety off his HK12. At least he had guessed.

'Omega 2 isn't going anywhere. At least get this thing off his face before he dies.' Shepherd said grimly.

Jackson was dumbfounded. He had nothing else to say, no other defense. It had to be done.

'Of course, si-ir.' Stumbled Charlie 1. He was still shooting one of his buddies. Taking a perfect firing stance, Charlie 1 aimed squarely down at Peter's face, right at the suckling thing's skull.

'Do it.' Shepherd muttered.

Jackson flipped to Charlie biosigns. Charlie 1 was [bleep]ing.

'Dammit, solder, that was an order.' Shepherd said again as Charlie hesitated.

Charlie 1 breathed heavily and his finger twitched...

'DO IT!' Shepherd screamed into COM and out loud.

The round rang off and there was a sudden spatter of blood and black flesh as the alien exploded off of (and with) Peter's face. Biosigns for Charlie 1 began to calm down, and his ammunition count was one less.

Shepherd clapped Charlie 1 on the back. 'I'm sorry, soldier, but it had to be done.' Despite this saying, Charlie 1 still looked at his feet, his gun held limply at his side.

'Move out, get these bodies to HQ, stat! Closest one, call an ACT-LRV, Stat, Omega 1!'

They followed orders. Shepherd brought up roster and listed Delta 1 and 2 KIA, along with Omega 2. Shrewdly, he located the ID tag of the splattered civilian and marked him down as KIA too. 'Marcus Rodriguez, ID40578 KIA.' Shepherd remarked dryly. 'What a bastard, too.'

As the cars arrived, ACT took turns spitting on the civilian's corpse before loading up. Body detail was for police, not for trained professionals. They took the HK12, along with the GM Knife that Peter had once been so proud of, and his 'Deagle' pistol. Last thing they needed were teen rebels getting guns off the poor man's corpse.

Jackson was in back with Beta team. Beta 1 and 2 offered condolences, said they were sorry to see Omega 2 go. Said he was a good man. But they were all faceless, their real expression hidden behind masks, balaclava's, and COM channels. And it didn't do anything to help settle his uneasy mind.

Of course, they would soon learn that Peter, and Delta 1, and Delta 2, they all got off easy. They were the lucky ones. And in the end, the few survivors would be the unluckiest bastards left on Earth.

__________________________________________

The LRV jostled the men inside as they rode along the roads. All of them held their heads between their knees and their minds between their ears. The COM was dead silent, not even Shephard spoke. The rain came down heavily, and the streets seemed disturbingly empty.

Jackson was the only person who was looking out the window of the LRV as they rolled across the street. The water dribbled erratically across the bulletproof glass, leaving trails and patterns that other drops followed. Jackson let his mind wander, numb as it was from the loss of Peter.

"Shi-!" Came a sharp yell over the COM as the driver almost wrecked the car. In a moment, five HK12's were steadied in the air towards all windows. There was a solid metal plating between the drivers compartment were Shephard and the driver were, dividing the soldiers from their leader. It was an unnerving Prospekt, but the soldiers were as steady as stone as the driver recovered control.

"Oh, damn. Sorry, guys. Nearly hit a pothole the size of hell."

HK12 safety was clicked back on, and only Alpha 2 acknowledged this by sending a 'good to go' green light over HUD display.

Despite the long drive, the rain still poured at headquarters. Through his green-tinted visor, visibility was becoming a problem. The seven men in the ACT-LRV hopped out, unloaded gear, and quickly went inside. Jackson padlocked the doors on the way in.

ACT Headquarters was a government funded building. It was well lit with bullet proof glass instead of normal 'civie glass'. Inside there were a number of other ACT units. All of them were just as mysterious as the masked men. Many of them were in only boxers and wife beater shorts, but they all had some form of combat gear on them. From a knife to a cocked and locked USP, all of them were wary.

Not a word was said as the returning team went to the armory. None of them spoke in private either as they changed and cleaned in the wash room. An unnatural quiet seized the fortress of a structure.

All the men went to sleep early. All of them were perturbed by the death of Delta squad and Peter. They were suppose to be the best of the best; how could a civilian manage to kill three ACT's and then commit suicide? Why didn't the ACT's win, like they ALWAYS do? As Jackson lay down to rest, these questions ran through his mind like so many bees. He lay down to his side and punched the pillow and tried to drift off into sleep, but that night he found it troubling and difficult to fall asleep. Closer to dawnbreak than to nightfall, he finally slipped into a comatose state of restless slumber.

A rattling sound of shells and bullets going off roused Jackson from his slumber. Barely even registering his surrounding, Jackson clumsily tumbled from bed. As he lay there, two ACT men ran by the room.

"Holy [cabbage], this guy ain't dead!" One of them exclaimed. The other one eyed Jackson warily, but slung his HK12 over his shoulder. The first one rushed to Jackson and helped him to his feet.

"Whadefushapp'n?" Jackson mumbled as he wiped an eye with the back of his hand.

"How could you have slept through it? Early in the morning these, these things came from the sky? Oh man it was horrible, the pods were huge; and if they didn't kill people simply by landing on them, they exploded and these, these THINGS just popped out! We got to get out of here, one of the sections of the building has already been hit!" The man tossed him a pistol. "Here, you might need it. Try to get down the armory, it's where everybody is holding out. It's underground and those...those little bastards can't get down there. Just, just GO!" Pushing Jackson at the last word, Jackson recognized the voice. It was Charlie 1, the same man whom had blasted Peter.

Jackson proceeded hastily down to the basement. When he reached the main hall, he realized that a huge black pod had descended through the five-foot concrete ceiling into the ground. The pod was also open; but no motion was seen. Remembering the phrase, 'curiosity killed the cat' Jackson turned away and began down the stairs. Around every corner he shouted out, so his own buddies wouldn't shoot on impulse. Those HK12 rounds could go straight through him.

When he finally reached the bottom, he was greeted by no less than twenty other men. All dressed up in their ACT gear, with HK12's and others with heavy weapons, they all looked ready to fight a damn war.

"Welcome, Omega to Ground Zero." Shephard said grimly. "Put on a gas mask, get in your gear, and we'll talk about what to do next."

"Sir? What's goi -" Jackson began, but Shephard cut him off. "Dammit, soldier, haven't you guessed? Some God forsaken beast fell from the sky and they've been killing every single thing they've been able to get their hands on. Whatever got Omega 2 yesterday is now all over the entire damn city! The ENTIRE CITY, Omega. I don't know if you have any idea how large Metroville is, but it's a whole lot bigger than twenty men could comb in twenty years!" Shephard's face turned red. "The civilians eventually go insane, we've got mass homicide in the streets! Do you know what the government is going to do? They're going to quarantine the city and bomb the [cabbage] out of us till not one thing is left? Do you understand, Omega? We're all going to DIE! So lock in, don't cry, and we'll see if we can't get out of this with a little bit of honor."

Jackson swallowed the hardening lump in his throat. "Of course sir. Of course."

Not bad, I do like a good Sci-fi.

Nice to see you posting, in case you thought I forgot you.

Bump (Part 2 Added)

And good to see you. It has been a while...

Bump (Part 3 added.)

I forgot this even existed for like, a week and a half. Or more. Sorry. :P