Wolves
Attrition

After a long, uneasy ride, the hypercruiser descendedthrough the atmosphere of the planet. A thick, orange mass of cloudsshrouded the path, making the pilot apprehensive.

Sergeant Icarus entered the Death Squad's cabin,closing the door behind him. Before speaking with them as heintended, he took a discreet peek into the back room. It was clear ofany trace that a man had died.

“Here's the situation, and our orders,” he began,hooking the men's attention. “All of us aboard this ship, exceptfor the pilots, will be attacking the ridge where the Nektro outpostis located. It's next to a large plateau with tall grasses, so unlessthe Nektro have heat sensors, we'll be hidden. The goal is to drivethem against the edge of the cliff from behind and finish them to thelast man. Destroy all of their tech.”

“Wouldn't we want to keep it, for studying purposes?”Clayton interrupted, concerned.

“Orders are orders. Everything on that ridge goes upin smoke,” Icarus retorted. “We'll be landing two miles from theoutpost, beyond cannon range. The hypercruiser'll be parked thereuntil we get back.”

“Well...” Traw chimed, “I ain't a strategist oranything like that, but why couldn't we just take a bomber and drop apayload onto the outpost? This don't seem that efficient.”

Icarus shrugged, rolling his eyes. “What'd I tellyou,” he repeated, “orders are orders. I take 'em and never askquestions. You should do the same.” He fitted his shabby, oldhelmet onto his head and fastened the strap about his chin.

“You expectin' to walk outta this one alive?”Sanchez wondered, gesturing to the sergeant.

“Nope.And that's my job,” he answered without a care. “This is my fifthmission, and the average member of the 122ndsurvives two. Statistics gotta catch up with me at some point.” Heloaded a magazine into his rifle and walked into the other room.

Traw bowed his head and slipped on his helmet. Claytonpicked up his thunder rifle and checked the charger on the side,making sure he had enough power in it. He was not quick to place hisfinger on the trigger. “Death Squad and all Marines to stern cabin.Prepare for departure,” the pilot ordered over the speakers.

The five men entered the back cabin, where most of theMarines already stood, murmuring to each other and preparing forbattle. A low lull fell over the room when the Death Squad entered.There was something daunting about the Death Squad members, like theywere gods among men. They could be shot a hundred times and stillpress on. Their faces were usually shrouded, and their frames a greatdeal taller than the average man. A certain immortality envelopedtheir presence.

“What're you lookin' at?” Moore sneered, waving hisshotgun in the crowd's general direction. They looked away withoutquestion. Icarus entered the cabin, and the Marines stood vaguely atattention. At the very least, he had the attention of most of them.

“Once that bay door opens, we're rushin' out into thegrass and straight for the outpost,” he ordered, pointing to thedoor. “Once the Nektro start firing shots, we don't turn back. Wepress those bitches to the edge of the cliff, and fill their gutswith lead and lasers to the last man. Y'all wanted to die, that's afact. Here's your chance to do it with a shred of honor.”

Icarus took a cigarette pack out of his pocket, andpassed it about among the men. A lighter was passed about and usedaccordingly, then returned to Icarus. “I'd offer you some, but itwouldn't quite work...with the helmets and all,” the sergeantremarked to the Death Squad members, puffing the cigarette betweenhis lips.

The pilot's voice alerted over the speakers, “Droppingin five...four...three...two...one.” In a flash of light, the baydoor opened, and the Marines rushed out, their armored formsdisappearing into the tall grasses. Sergeant Icarus and the DeathSquad rushed to the front of the assault after all the men had pouredout of the hypercruiser.

As they were advancing through the grasses with thedusk sun splintering through the peaks of the grass stalks, SergeantIcarus brought a small, tube-like device out of a pouch on his beltand snapped it onto his helmet. “What's that?” Clayton inquired,noticing the sergeant had attached it.

“Camera,” Icarus replied, tapping it with his freehand. “It's transmitting all our activity back to Neptune as wespeak. Some sort of propaganda, at least that's what I've been told.”Clayton decided to ask no further questions.

Traw took a few rapid steps up ahead of the group andcrouched low. He engaged a special sensor on his visor, allowing himto see beyond the grass that shrouded his path. “Four hundredmeters to the outpost,” he told the rest of the men.

“From what I've read,” Clayton added, “theirsnipers will likely spot us at two hundred meters, in theseconditions, and the artillery will engage fire at once.”

“Into hell's maws,” Aveer remarked, imagining thebattle ahead.

Theplatoon marched on, anticipating a Nektro sniper to spot them at anymoment. Traw wished he could have some sort of high ground, so hecould start eliminating enemies and do so from a safe distance.What'd happen if I died here? Trawwondered, swallowing hard at the thought. Luellawould be without a pa. Louise'd be without a husband. I'd die servingthem so we could have a better future together...if that ain'tironic, I dunno what is.

Henoticed Icarus was rotating about slowly with his helmet camera, todocument everyone present. The sergeant made a point to linger hisgaze on each of the Death Squad members, scanning them from up todown. Moore just smirked and shook his head. Suddenly, there was adeathly squawk coming from the direction of the outpost. Then therewas the sound of a laser rifle discharged, and one of the Marinesfell dead. “That'd be the sniper,” Sanchez grinned, rushingtoward the outpost.

Moore, who was close behind, took two sniper shots tothe chest, but was evidently unfazed by the way he continued runningforth. After a few short moments, the artillery joined the fight, andthe unfortunate, or rather welcoming, men in the rear flank of theplatoon were obliterated from the battlefield, their loosely armoredcorpses tumbling among the singed grass stalks.

In a burst of gunfire, the Death Squad emerged from thegrasses, attracting the attention of all Nektro present. Footsoldierspoured out of the back door of the outpost, only to be pummeled downby Aveer's bullets. Clayton sprinted up to the door and pressed thebarrel of his rifle to the control pad. He charged it until the gunwas subtly rumbling in his hands, then released a massive surge ofelectricity into the control pad.

The door sealed shut, all sirens and lights shut off,and the cannons lost power. Moore switched on his magnetic gloves andlept to the side of the building, immediately shimmying up the walland clambering onto the roof. One of the snipers flipped open a coveron the roof and began to crawl out, but Moore blasted it against thehatch door, then approached the hole and shot down at the sniper whowas climbing up as well. After pulling the pin, Moore tossed agrenade down the hole and closed the cover. There was a quick,ominous rumble.

Traw noticed two footsoldiers slip out of one of theside doors, where the generators and life support system blocks wereplaced. He waited for them both to come out of the mess of pipes andpumps, then shot one dead. The other tried to run, but he sent alethal round into its back.

Sanchez came up beside him as Marines flooded towardthe outpost defenses, most of which were rendered useless at thatpoint. “We got long-range trouble, comin' in hot,” he told Traw,pointing to the horizon. Traw lifted his rifle and nestled his eyeinto the scope. Two Nektro dropships were approaching, theirsilhouettes looming closer to the ridge. “Think you can nail thepilots?” Sanchez wondered.

“I can try,” Traw replied, settling his crosshairson the cockpit windshield of one of the ships. “Icarus, I'm gonnashoot down two incoming dropships. Do I have clearance?” He kepthis crosshairs on the cockpit, waiting a response from SergeantIcarus.

“Green light, Traw,” Icarus replied over thecommunication link. “Eliminate incoming dropships.”

Traw pulled the trigger without hesitation. The roundpenetrated the glass and sunk into the skull of the pilot. Its bodyslumped over at the controls, jamming them inward and causing thedropship to veer sharply left. Traw lowered his rifle and watched theresult of his shot.

The dropship with the dead pilot swerved into the hullof the second one, causing the two vessels to crunch together andcareen toward the planet's surface in streams of thick flame. In adeafening blow, they crashed together, tumbling along the ground andskidding. A trail of wreckage and churned ground smoldered in theirwake. Finally, they both came to a grinding halt forty meters fromthe bottom of the cliff, among a field of boulders. “Holy shit,”Sanchez remarked, laughing. He clapped Traw on the arm and walked offto join the other Marines.

Moore jumped down from the roof, smoke rising from thetop hatch of the outpost. “Icarus, is that the last of the littlebastards?”

“I think so,” Icarus answered, closing the eyes ofone of his fallen Marines. “This mission was surprisingly low inbody count: 23.”

Traw stood on the sidelines, watching as the rest ofthe Marines exited the outpost and mustered at the back entrance. Heglanced over and noticed Aveer standing at the edge of the cliff, hishand resting on the barrel of his machine gun. Traw slung the rifleover his shoulder and approached his fellow team member. “What'reyou lookin' at?” Traw asked, curious.

Aveer paused, looking down at the wreckage of the twodropships Traw had destroyed. “Something's not right,” Aveeranswered, his tone dark. “Those ships should not have been shot.”

“But they were comin' for us,” Traw argued. “We'dbe in some serious trouble if they did get close enough.”

“No...” Aveer replied plainly. “You did not know.None of us did. Come with me.” Without leaving time for a retort,Aveer clipped his gun to his backstrap and leaped off the cliff. Hecushioned the landing with his hip and boot thrusters. Traw lookedbehind him. Icarus was mustering the remnants of the platoon, out ofsight. Traw joined Aveer.

The two of them walked toward the wreckage, stillalight in some places. Traw knew the fuel cells had already ignited,so there was nothing unexpected to be worried about. The crunchedframes of the ships lay slumped, side by side. “Shhh...” Aveerhushed, tapping his ear. Traw stopped in his tracks and listened. Helifted his helmet, scanning the area cautiously. Aveer did the same,slipping back his dreadlocks to expose his large ears. There was afaint crying sound, coming from the direction of the wreckage. “Youhear it,” Aveer recognized, looking Traw straight in the eyes.

They approached the wreckage, turning on theflashlights mounted to their shoulders. The strength of the cryingsound ebbed and flowed, but Traw knew he was drawing closer. He feltalong the edge of one of the damaged hulls and tore away a piece ofthe armor plating. It ripped off like tinfoil for him. As he did, thecrying sound grew more panicked, and there was a brief shufflingsound from within the hull. “I think I found what we're lookingfor,” he told Aveer.

Trying to be as discreet and quiet as possible, so asto not attract attention from the platoon members, they workedtogether to haul off pieces of the hull's plating. Finally, theypulled off the last piece of the frame, opening a hole big enough toslip into. They looked at each other before entering. Aveer shimmiedin first, crouching low. Traw waited a moment. “It's clear,”Aveer whispered. Traw slipped in, still carrying his helmet in hisarm.

The ruptured cabin of the dropship was large, withstreams of moonlight peeking through the slim gaps in the crackedhull. A few dangling wires sparked from the ceiling. There wasanother shuffling sound like the one before, but longer and a bitmore manic. Traw tried to illuminate the area with his mounted helmetflashlight. He saw something move among the rubble. “There,” healerted, sneaking closer. Aveer was by his side.

They approached the end of the cabin, where a fewcrates were tumbled about. Aveer lifted one of the crates, andrevealed a small cave, of sorts. Far more fascinating to both of themen was what they saw within the cave. Two creatures, similar to whatthey knew of Nektro footsoldiers, lay huddled together, pressedagainst the furthest wall. They were approximately five feet tall,with slender limbs and long necks. Both of them had several woundsrupturing their slim, purple garments. Both of the men crouched low,getting on the level of the creatures. Their eyes darted back andforth between Aveer and Traw.

“You think they're Nektro?” Traw asked.

“What else would they be doing on a Nektro dropship?”

“They don't look like soldiers, though.They're...civilians. Maybe female.” Traw paused, a dark realizationcoming over him. “Aveer...check the rest of the cabin floor. Searcharound. What do you see?” Aveer rose and began looking about asTraw remained in his position, keeping an eye on the two Nektrocivilians.

“Thousands of demons,” Aveer exclaimed, holding alifted grate in his hand. “Corpses. Corpses everywhere.”

Traw stumbled to his feet and ran up next to Aveer.Eleven Nektro corpses lay strewn underneath rubble. They weresmaller, with different physical builds. “Children,” Trawmuttered, looking at the corpses with a feeling of dread twisting hisgut. “These are children.” Traw fumbled back against a crate,running his hand through his hair. He looked back at the twosurvivors. “I killed children, Aveer.” A tear trickled downTraw's hard cheek as his head hung low. It dropped to the metalfloor. “I killed women and children.” Traw covered his face withhis hands.

Aveer went to help up the two survivors, but to hisdisappointment and silence, they had succumbed to death's herald. Hesaid nothing.

Sebastian Traw, Death Squad Member 05, wept.