Chapter 23: Escape from Hell part II

Corporal Ricker watched the T'Lari go through the dead ones, and start eating them. Within three minutes, it had cracked open a leg and sucked marrow out of the bones it found. Suddenly his com chimed in his head and he heard Tom Morris' voice.

'Corporal Ricker, this is Corporal Tom Morris. I am bringing in twenty-one survivors, one critically wounded, two KIA. Sean is one of the dead, but he went down fighting.'

'Okay, Tom. Let me take care of the T'Lari that's eating his friends.'

Pulling out his silenced pistol, he aimed at the T'Lari and fired one round. The bullet flew through the air and hit the T'Lari. But, just as he fired, it moved and the round hit one of the creature's four-inch mandibles, snapping it off. Richard flipped the weapon to full auto and fired five rounds.

Ol'Lkia chopped another hunk of meat from one of the dead and turned as he heard something. Something flew past his face and he felt a sharp pain as his mandible snapped off and tumbled away. With a surprised yip of pain, he grabbed his bloody face and then felt more pain, and then nothing as he collapsed to the floor.

Watching the five rounds hit the creature and it falling to the ground he activated his internal com again and said, 'It's clear, Tom, come on in.'

'Okay on the way we should be there in five minutes.'

'Okay see you in five.'

Deep in the ship several T'Lari had captured several of the escaped human cattle and started to carve them up. Passing out the tender slices of the flesh, they felt the warmth returning to their bodies as they absorbed the nutrients from the raw meat. Wounds started healing. Their vision increased and their thought processes cleared up. Va'Talki reached over, and twisted the leg off one of the small children and peeled the flesh off the bones with its razor sharp mandibles. Within minutes, his higher thought processors were working, and he took in the damage to the ship. Biting the femur bone, he split it, and sucked the sweet marrow out and felt more power flowing into him.

"Capture more of the escapees," he said. "We must restore our brothers to kill the humans."

The ten T'Lari turned and ran out of the storage room, and started searching for more of the small humans. Within minutes, they were back dragging human children with them, where they were quickly slaughtered, and their meat was passed to the remaining warriors while their blood and bones were made into a soup for all to consume.

"Good, my warriors. Gather more of the accursed humans. Let us remove their blight from the order of the universe. Go forth when you feel better. Bring back more of those small humans if you see them. Bring back the larger ones to feed more of the brethren."

He watched the warriors eat and leave the room. They stopped in the weapons rooms and started arming themselves with the more complicated weaponry.

Lieutenant Cowlings watched out his door, waiting for any movement or sound, looking over his shoulders he saw his men hiding behind their cover. As he stood there, looking out into the darkness he suddenly heard a scream, and it was human.

"Nelson, Higgins! You're with me. Andy you're in charge."

Taking off he ran down the hallway following the screaming. Behind him Sergeant Richard Nelson and Corporal Jim Higgins followed. Coming to a stop at one of the intersections, he listened. As he waited, the screaming started up again and this time there was a lot of it coming from his right.

Turning, he shouldered his rifle, and pulled out his two huge pistols and moved down the hallway keeping an eye out. Passing other passageways and doors, he glanced into or down them for movement.

"Jim, Richard, see anything?"

Richard came back with a negative, but it was Jim who hit pay dirt. As he flipped, his goggles into infrared mode, and was peering down one of the side passageways he saw movement.

"Yes, Sir. I've got movement, not sure what it is, because the passageway is too dark to tell."

William started walking and then the screaming started again. Picking up speed, he ran towards it and stepped into a house of horrors. Over fifty bodies were lying on the floor, butchered as the T'Lari moved towards a large group of civilians. Stopping he raised his pistols, and started pulling the triggers of the big .44 automags. The rounds start punching into the creatures from behind and five were down before they move with huge holes blown through them. Some of the rounds hit some of the other T'Lari and they cry out as the chunks of lead punched into them.

The T'Lari stopped, and turned as they heard the cry of their brethren and the strange sound of the pistols discharge. Seeing the three men wearing the uniforms of the despised Federation Marines they charged them.

Richard and Jim pull out their Glock 21's and started putting rounds into the creatures, but the booming of their pistols was nothing compared to the deadly sound of their bosses' weapons. The 45s bring down the T'Lari but the damage was nothing like the 44's.

One of the T'Lari brought up his Greacthc rifle and fired. The rounds slammed into the Marine on the left and he was blown apart as ten fletchen rounds ripped his body in half.

William heard the discharge of the Greacthc rifle and felt the blood spray land on him as Richard was blown apart. Spotting the T'Lari with the rifle, he fired his last two rounds and the T'Lari went flying back into the group of civilians. With its chest blown open it did not get back up.

With his pistols locked open, he dropped them. He pulled out his matched bowie knives, and started hacking the T'Lari in hand-to-hand combat. Beside him, Jim did the same with his knives. They danced through the remaining five T'Lari cutting any that get close enough. Three of the T'Lari went down very quickly and then the one on Jim stabbed him in his stomach with its knife and Jim stumbled and started to go down.

Seeing his remaining Marine start to go down, William kicked the T'Lari he was fighting in its knee, and he heard the sound of snapping bone. He moved in and stabbed the one on Jim in the back of the neck. Leaving the blade there, he whirled on the one he had wounded and saw it reaching for its pistol. Charging the creature William leaped up as it swung the pistol towards him, as his feet connected with the creature's chest the pistol went off. He felt pain in his left arm as the plasma hit the elbow.

Falling to the ground, William rolled to get back up and realized his arm was gone. That was when the pain hit him. Turning around he saw the T'Lari as he staggered to his feet. A sharp pain shot through his arm and his head started spinning. When his eyes focused, he saw the T'Lari being hacked apart by the civilians.

Ensign Andy Willowbrook watched his boss run out of the room with two of the team as back up. Looking around he saw the men reposition themselves.

Walking over to one of the spiders he said, "I want two M-4 heavy laser cannons constructed."

The spider started replicating the parts for the cannons as another came over and placed them together. The first part was the mount followed by the stand and the power supply pack. Then the cannons and barrels were formed followed by the induction coils and blast shield, in five minutes the weapons were ready, and were pointing towards the two open doors. Placing Corporal Jamie Sullivan behind one and Sergeant Ivan Vysotsky behind the other he hoped he was ready for any attack.

"Jamie, Ivan! Keep your eyes open. They could attack us without warning. At least that third door is just a storage room."

"I shall, comrade. I will keep my eyes open," replied Ivan Vysotsky as he settled behind the cannon. Reaching down he powered up the weapon and saw the power level climb up to maximum.

Jamie glanced over at Andy and in her soft Texas drawl said, "Got ya boss, I will gut any of these critters if they come near me, just like I used to do to the pigs back on the farm where I grew up."

Laughing Andy looked at the young Texan and said, "Damn remind me not to piss you off. Only you would think of using the laser cannon to gut something when all I want you to do is blow it away." Shaking his head as he was walking back to his post he heard.

"Look out Andy."

Andy looked up, and he saw a T'Lari standing there with a Greacthc rifle and it fired. Before he can move, ten rounds hit him in the chest and he flew backwards. As his body hit the floor, he heard the sound of the plasma cannons open up.

Jamie looked to the door and saw the T'Lari standing there with its rifle up and she shouted out to Andy. The creature's fired its weapon and she saw him fly backwards.

"NO!" she screamed.

Pressing the firing button on the laser, she blew the T'Lari in half and continued to rake the doorway. Burning a channel through the walls to the left and right as the T'Lari pour into the room. Tears ran down her face as she glanced at her fiancée, and screamed "Die you mother fuckers!" Standing there at the cannon, she continued to pump the energy into the T'Lari warriors.

Several T'Lari scattered and raised their Greacthc rifles and fire at the human. Several rounds knick her, and then one hits her in the chest and she went flying backwards. As the T'Lari moved closer, they heard a noise and twenty Marines boiled through the tunnel and charged them in hand-to-hand combat.

Jamie felt several rounds hit her and then one hit her in the chest. She screamed in pain as she was flung back away from her weapon, three more rounds hit her and she felt nothing else as she slammed into the hull of the ship and slid to the floor.

Captain John Breckenridge stood with his men as the lift descended. As they near the tunnel, they could hear the sound of heavy laser fire.

"Fix bayonet's!" he said, as he pulled his bayonet from its sheath and attached it to his plasma rifle.

The lift was about a foot above the floor of the tunnels and he jumped off the lift landing in the tunnel, and screamed, "Charge."

The remaining Marines were right behind him and as they came into the room, they saw one of the Nat team members go flying, as multiple fletchen rounds hit her body. Charging the T'Lari, he stabbed one in the gut and kicked it away as another closed and he pulled the trigger. The plasma round hit the creature in what would have been its guts and it fell back screaming as it caught fire.

Swinging at another T'Lari, he looked behind it and saw more come into the room, and he shouts, "Anderson, get on that cannon and help us out."

Private First Class Josh Anderson gutted the T'Lari in front of him and dropped and rolled under another attack. Pulling out his pistol, he started firing rounds into them as he made his way to the cannon. As the pistol locked open he was kneeling behind the laser canon, he swung it around to the new flood of T'Lari coming through the door, and he started cutting them down. Looking around the room as they dropped he swung his weapon back and forth, picking small groups of them off as he fired. Suddenly more darts started coming into the room from behind the pile of bodies in the doorway. Several Marines were literally torn apart as the fully automatic weapons opened up, and then they started going through the room like a sickle taking friend and foe out.

Several of the rounds hit the blast shield and bounced away. Turning the cannon back to the door, he started firing into the pile of bodies. Bodies started disintegrating as the energy reached out and touched them, bodies both human and T'Lari exploded as Josh searched out the hidden enemy and then the gunfire stopped. Josh lifted his head from where he had been crouching behind the weapon and took in the damages. Of the original NAT team, he saw only two were still standing, and of his squad of Marines, only five were left. With what looked like, more than fifty dead T'Lari scattered around the room.

"Good job Anderson."

Josh looked over at Captain Breckenridge. "Thanks sir, but they did as much..."

The fletchen round hit Josh in the head and he crumpled behind his weapon as more of the T'Lari came flooding into the room just as more Marines arrived. The Marines scattered through the room, hurling their grenades at the doorway, which caused the T'Lari to balk, and as quickly as the new attack started, it was over, leaving two more Marines dead.

Captain Breckenridge looked at the eighteen Marines and said, "Split up in two groups I want nine of you through each doorway. Secure the room on the left and the passageway on the right." As the Marines rushed into the other room, a small firefight opened up and as quickly as it started it was over and Sergeant Dmitri Yeltsin came back in.

"Comrade, room secured, one Marine wounded, five more T'Lari dead," replied the big Russian with a smile and then he continued, "This good fight. Do I have your permission to take one of the spider bots to make us some defensive positions, so my men have some cover to fight behind?"

"Permission granted." John said as he walked over to the body of Josh and knelt there. Activating his com unit as he closes the sixteen year olds eyes, he said, "Sorry Josh." as he got nothing but static on the com, so he turned on his internal com. With a shudder he said, 'Any NAT teams this is Captain Breckenridge. We have secured the entrance and are spreading out into the wreck. Give me a location if you can.'

Sir this is Corporal Tom Morris. I think we are one level below you. I have two other team members with me along with two hundred and nineteen civilians. We are hiding in a large shuttle bay that has been partially crushed. Of the three passageways we found going into the room, two are completely caved in, we have the third under watch at a partial cave in. The corridors are packed with T'Lari looking for us. I have one KIA and three critically wounded civilians. End report.'

Listing to the report, he was shocked that there were so many civilians alive on the ship. 'Okay Corporal stay hidden and we will get to you. My Marines are spreading out into the ship.'

'Yes Sir, please hurry, if they find us there is going to be many dead here ... and sir it is true! They do eat humans. I saw the bastards killing and eating children.'

John felt a shudder go through him at the report of the T'Lari eating humans, how he hoped ... no prayed that it was not true.

'Damn it I was hoping it was not true. Very well, keep hidden if you can and protect them.'

'This is Lieutenant Cowlings I have one KIA, one WIA and twenty-one civilians, we are less than three hundred feet from you, and coming in ... Damn it ... sorry sir I hit my wounded arm. As I was reporting we found some civilians the T'Lari were massacring, I had to leave at least fifty dead behind me. Sir these people need to be buried ... just a second sir.'

William was finishing his report when he peeked around the corner, and saw several T'Lari pushing a multi-barreled weapon down the passageway. Pulling a grenade out, he signaled to the one of the kids to hold out her hand. When she did, he threaded the primer ring over one of the girl's fingers.

Then he whispered, "Pull."

Eight-year-old Tasha Alexandra Kaminski stood there behind the solider, her dirty brown hair hung limply down her back as she watched the man who looked like her poppa. She was surprised when he turned to her and was holding something in his hand. She raised her hand as he instructed her to do. She saw him slip a metal ring around her finger and told her to pull. Closing her small fingers she yanked hard on the ring and it came off. Standing there, she looked at the shiny metal and wrapped it in her small hand.

Smiling at the little girl, he turned and hurled the grenade down the left corridor. It hit the ground, and rolled up to one of the T'Lari and hit his foot and exploded. The explosion destroyed the weapon and killed the four T'Lari with it. Looking around for more he saw movement coming towards them from the right.

Pulling his pistol, he said. "Run down the left passageway until you meet the Marines, stay here and you die. Jim, go with them."

Jim looked at his platoon leader and said, "Yes sir, will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I will be right behind you."

Tucking the pistol in his belt where he can get it he, he fumbled the left one out of its holster and aimed down the passageway as the T'Lari charged them.

"RUN NOW!"

Stepping to the entrance to the passageway, he sighted the first T'Lari and then the big booming of the .44s echoes in the corridors as he fired the weapon. Eight rounds later, the pistol locked open and he started to drop it when he felt some small hands take the big gun. Shocked he looked down and saw the little girl standing there with one of his reloads. Letting the gun loose he yanked the second one out and started firing again. The rounds took out several of the T'Lari, and caused them to start tripping over the bodies.

"Sweetie we need to get out of here. So please run."

Tasha looked up at the man, wincing as the big gun fired. Reaching up she pulled one of the clips from the ammo pack and was ready when it locked open. As he went to drop the pistol, she took it from his fingers. She saw the shock on his face when he saw her. She ejected the empty and then slammed the clip home. She forced the slide to reload, just as her daddy had taught her. She was ready when the second gun emptied and she switched them with the other as he said run.

William took the new pistol and handed her the empty, then sweeping her up with his good arm he turned and started running. On his shoulder, he heard her grunt and then the magazine go home in the pistol. Then she screamed in his ear. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a T'Lari less than six feet behind him. Whirling he lifted the pistol and fired and felt pain in his stomach and looked down at the knife the creature had thrown.

Seeing four more T'Lari he emptied the gun at them and then plasma bursts flew past him and started dropping the T'Lari he had not killed.

Tasha hung over his shoulder and saw the Marines running towards them.

She hugged the man, and said in her native language of Ukrainian, "Poppa, Poppa, they come."

Tears flooded down the girl's face as she felt the man whom she was calling her daddy start running,

William saw the bolts fly by and then the girl started saying something in another language and hugged him tightly around his neck. Turning he saw, the Marines come running and one of them stopped at them.

Corporal Jim Higgins looked at his boss and then yelled to the people, "Come on! Let's go! You heard him!"

Pushing the people the way he wanted them to go he took off leading them with his plasma rifle out. Seeing several T'Lari ahead at a small barricade he fired the weapon and hit both of them in the back killing them. Then aiming at the piled furniture he blew it open and stopped. Looking back the way they came, he could hear the booming of a gun.

"Come on, Lieutenant!"

Passing the people through the hole, he said to the frightened people. "Go, run until you find the Marines, they will protect you."

Turning around, he took up a position at the remains of the barricade, and watched for the shellheads.

The civilians continued to run. The older ones carried the youngest, and ran right into the Marines taking up station outside the shattered doors.

Sixteen-year-old private Bas Vandroogenbroeck looked up from his 50 caliber heavy machine gun he was setting up and saw a passel of naked people running towards him, ranging from ages of five years old to what he assumed around fifteen. Standing up he shouted as he pointed to an open doorway, "Hurry up go in there, we will get you out of here."

One of the girls passed and he couldn't help but admire her body. She was around fifteen and carrying a small child in her arms, and except that she was very dirty, she was quiet beautiful. She looked right at him, and he smiled and his heart flipped as she smiled back at him.

"Go through the door miss. We will get you out of here."

Alexia Astrauckas stopped and looked at the young man addressing her. Adjusting her baby brother in her arms, she smiled again.

"Thank you for rescuing us."

Bas blushed and mumbled, "Your welcome." With a small smile, he continued, in his broken English, "My name is Bas Vandroogenbroeck. Would you have dinner with me when we get done, here?"

Giggling, she replied, "I will think about it. Be brave my soldier, and maybe we will. Please kill many of the T'Lari for my family. They killed all my family but my little brother and me." Smiling once more, she continued, "One of your Marines needs help that way."

Tears started running down her face as she turned and ran through the door.