Chapter 6

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

The water kept him from sleeping. At first he could tune it out, but eventually it was everything he could hear.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Water drips hit the floor repeatedly. Small puddle already formed on the floor. The droplets broke the surface and echoed in his head.

Dripping. Dripping. Dripping.

Constantly. All the time. Minutes turned to hours. He counted. Claude tried to count. At least to break the monotony of the dripping. But eventually hours turned to days. He was broken. He lied on the floor listening. Unable to tune out the insistent dripping. The only thing he heard was the godawful dripping.

Claude finally roused from deep sleep. He was still in his combat suit. His fingers darted unconsciously left and right, yet nothing happened. The helmet didn’t respond to his commands. Seconds later his hands checked for any damage, but nothing. The helmet was intact. There were few things in the galaxy that could break the plexi-steel that Imperium’s Space Marines were known for.

Finally, he noticed he was in a cell.

Bars were on his left. Made out of strange material much like his plexi-steel helmet, yet much thicker. Beyond them was a tight corridor that led further into the darkness.

Finally, he noticed a sharp outline of a bed on his right.

Everything around him felt wet. The sensors in his mask weren’t working so good, his sense of smell wasn’t registering anything, but the room he was in felt like it should smell like the jungle he was accustomed to.

He sat upright. Fingers dug deep and dragged piece of dirt before his eyes. Dark terracotta was in his fingertips.

A thought passed through his mind about his brothers. He hoped he was the only one that was captured, but then in a flash of light he remembered. Most were butchered, killed or captured. Like he was.

Sometimes the cruel hand of fate started painting everything as dark as possible.

A dark shadow opened the cell door.

He was dragged out by a bug he never saw before. This one reminded him almost of a human. Almost. The giant mandible on the side of its face gave it away. But before he could do or say anything he was thrown on the ground again. Another dark being was in front of him, sitting on a throne. A lavish throne at that.

This one looked human. Claude gasped at the creature unusual ashy skin.

“Apologies for the behavior of my children.” The being voice echoed in his mind, the creature speaking in perfect English.

Claude gazed from behind his helmed, awestruck he asked, “What are you?”

“I am the Swarm. Or what your kind referred to as Swarm. Such a crude name for my children. I and my babies don’t have a name yet. You see, we’re still infants in this universe.” The being smiled, “As to what I am, well I am simply God.” The creature gazed at him with his lifeless dark eyes.

Claude swallowed hard, “What?”

The creature smiled, it’s black lifeless eyes boring through Claude’s soul, “You heard me. I am a God of sorts. I created them. I can feel them. They hunger. I feel their sadness, their pain. And also I miss the ones you murdered.”

Before Claude could say anything the being moved and punched through his helmet like it was made out of Styrofoam. He could feel the rush of air, hear the crunching of plexi-steel. Before he could exclaim in horror the helmet lied in shambles. Electronic guts, glass and its components lying all over the floor. He gazed in awe as the being flexed his wrists.

“Don’t disrespect their memory by claiming you were defending yourself. You weren’t.” The creature hissed.

“They attacked first.” Claude spoke.

“Attacked? How do you feed my dear? Do you ask of your prey to lie down and wait for you to finish eating? I think not. You act. You feed. That’s what we did ... among other things.” The being’s cold smile frightened the seasoned veteran that sat on the floor.

Claude felt every bit of fear and cursed his own weaknesses.

The creature composed itself before saying, “Regardless, we’re the ones who’ll finish this war of yours.”

Claude rose to his feet, his fists clenched, “What do you expect my men to do? Wait for these monsters to eat us alive?!”

“Yes. It’s your purpose. You are our food. Nothing more. They were ravenous and you refused them the meal they deserved so very much.” The being watched Claude carefully, “The countless you killed, I can hear their families weep. They demand retribution.”

“But they’re only bugs.”

“And you’re only cattle.” The creature simply said, the voice echoing in Claude’s mind.

It finally rose to his feet and moved quietly over to where Claude stood almost shivering. It made no noise as it moved to where Claude stood.

The man’s body started shivering, the creature started spawning some form of area of effect on everything around it. Any creature caught in this circle would be riveted in place and surrender to its gruesome fate.

“Many will die. Men. Women. Children. We’ll devour everything in our path.” The creature simply said. “I can hear them moving restlessly. They want to kill. They will. My children seek betterment. They aim to be the best they can be. I’m expecting you to tremble. To run in fear. To fight. I wonder what will you chose to do. Your kind mostly. I do wonder. I anticipate you will fight. But how? Will you resort to your primitive weapons? Or will you simply be exterminated like the vermin that you are. I really want to see that.” The man smiled in the dark, “I can hear your thoughts my dear morsel. You’re wondering how am I able to speak so ... fluently.” He walked a short distance away and watched something over the railing.

Claude stood next to him and watched in horror as many roach like bugs swarmed the dead bodies of his fellow marines. Several were conscious enough to start screaming as thousands upon thousands of baseball sized bugs swarmed their bodies. The screams echoed in the massive coliseum. One by one the soldier woke up to the horrors that waited.

The bugs spat some sort of fluid on the bodies which would dissolve flesh in mere seconds, allowing the insects to feed on their helpless victims.

Many tried to fight off the onslaught of bugs that swarmed their broken bodies. But nothing they did could stop the inevitable.

Torn muscle, flesh and exposed bone would cripple any marine that saw what Claude saw in front of him.

The veteran slumped to his knees and dejectedly listened to the screams.

One by one, eventually, they went silent.

The being smiled as the only thing that could be heard in the room was feeding of his children.

“They finished sampling the flesh of their victims. Now it begins.” The creature announced.

“What?” The man’s dejected voice asked.

“The evolution of my newest child.” The being sounded proud.

Claude slowly lifted his head to see the being carefully watching what was happening beyond the wall. Slowly he supported his weight by his hands as he rose to his feet and carefully watched what was happening in front of him.

Six armed creature suddenly appeared from the ground. A lift gently hoisted it in place. It blinked slowly, watching the being with reverence in his featureless face. Its round head twitching from Claude to the being next to him.

The creature was easily the size of a grown man. It was equipped with four arms. One set had 5 flexible elongated fingers, the other a 4 thick black claws. The creature had a long tail between its legs that unraveled once the lift stopped and started swinging from side to side. Hitting the air like a whip. Its body was dark greenish hue that reacted with the light.

“You are gorgeous,” the being whispered.

The being either heard or sensed it was praised. It’s head slowly lowered as if it said the creature itself was unworthy of the praise.

As soon as the creature lifted its head many others started walking into the oval ditch. Many were eerily similar to the creature on the metallic pad, but some were slightly bigger, their color darker green than the rest.

The being watched as his creations kneeled before him, “Rise. Today we reach a milestone in our evolution.” He extended his hands and said with finality, “Stars!” The doors in the room started opening.

One by one the creatures walked out the room, the being beside Claude sighed, “I wonder if your kind experiences loss.”

Claude turned his head toward him and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“My kids are leaving their nest; I’m just wondering if your species suffers like I do.” The creature sighed.

Claude ignored his odd behavior. Eventually he asked, “Where are they going?”

The being sighed one more time before answering, “To find progress. A new home. Feeding grounds. Take your pick.”

The beings showed on a screen in the coliseum.

They walked short distance and each entered a pod by themselves.

The pod was made out of organic material. As soon as one of them stepped inside it would seal itself by a membrane. Entire pod rose slowly from the ground before disappearing into the sky.

“There they go. On a mission to find new genes for our ever growing family.”