28 Stalker (1/2)
James knocked at the opened hatch of the medical bay, ”Hey Karl, still alive?” He pokes his head in, seeing Karl laying on 1 of the hospital beds, with a bandage wrapped around his thigh. ”How are you?”
”Hey Corp,” Karl replies weakly. ”I feel weak. Doc says I lost too much blood. Almost didn't make.” He gives a weak smile. ”Thanks for saving me.”
”Don't sweat it. Good to see you better.” James pats Karl's shoulder. ”Well, get out of here soon, you owe me a beer!”
”Sure, on me. Invite that red head of yours along too.” Karl gave a wink.
”Come on, you mean Kristine and me?” James laughs, ”Nah, she probably have someone else.”
”What someone else?” Kristine asks from the hatch. ”What evil plots are you guys planning?”
”Erm no,” James quickly replies, his face turning slightly red from embarrassment while Karl struggles to not laugh.
”Urgh, help! Don't make me laugh.” Karl moans, ”It hurts!”
Kristine shakes her head. Men! ”So how are you doing Karl?”
”Better, Doc says a week or so, and I am good as new.” Karl responses. ”So how did the ruins exploration went?”
Kristine starts to tell the two of them about what they found in the ruins and what the ruins used to be. The trio starts talking about their theories and thoughts about who build the fort and also about the green skins.
Suddenly, an alert went off from their communication devices. After a quick read of the message, both James and Kristine look up at each other before turning to Karl. ”We got a silent mobilization. Got to go, see you later,” James and Kristine dash out of the medical bay, meeting several other crews also rushing to their stations. Halfway, James, and Kristine split off in different directions. ”Be careful!” Kristine yells after James before heading to her assign station.
”What do we have?” Blake connects his comms to the bridge as their communicators flashed a priority alert message.
”Sir, perimeter sensors are picking up something massive and closing in.”
”Roger that, I'll be at the bridge in 5mins.” Blake cut the connection and turns to Dr. Sharon, ”We continue this discussion later on. For now, any experiments with the Staff, do it with at least 2 assistants.”Exiting the lab, he looks at XO Ford, ”Put a couple of guards to guard that thing. It seems dangerous.”
”Yes, Sir” Ford replies. Both of them hurries towards the bridge. As they enter the bridge, everyone inside was very tense, staring at the main display. ”What in the world...”
A UAV hovers 30m off the ground, it's camera facing the massive wolf as it creeps stealthily through the thick undergrowth towards the base colony. The imagery is directly displayed on the bridge main screen, shocks everyone.
”How big is that thing?” Blake walks up and stands in front of the display. ”Do we have an estimation of its size?”
”Computer simulations gauge it to be over 9m tall and 18m in length.” Came back the reply. ”Target has just crossed the 5km mark and closing in!”
The silvered back giant wolf pauses its movement and sniffs the air, looking directly at the hover UAV. The UAV coated with dazzle camouflage pattern, designed to blend into the sky makes less noise than the wings of a hummingbird. The wolf tilts its head, as it senses something watching it, but it is unable to see or smell anything. After a while of confusion, it continues its slow crawl towards the base colony.
To the crew in the bridge, the way the wolf crawls through the undergrowth looks hilarious, but judging from its size, it no longer is a laughing matter. ”Do we have anything to kill it with?” Blake asks. How the fuck are we going to fight something that size!
”No, the Marines do not have anti-armor weaponry. We are not issued with anything more other than our individual weapons!” Lt Frank who entered the bridge just after Blake and Ford stares wide-eyed at the screen. ”Command did not expect us to do any ground combat!”