Hunted Part II

Hunted Part II
By Nathan Carlisle

The flashing sensor on the console blinked in a desperate manner, indicating that something was heading our way. The commander noticed this as well and ordered the crew to take their positions as he scrambled up to the main turret. I jumped into the driver's seat and prepared to start up the engines.

Dog, the mechanic squawked onto my headset to inform me that the number two engine was not at one hundred percent and if I could take it easy, I should. I nodded in agreement as sweat started to run down the back of my neck. Tin Man, the navigator was sitting in the position next to me cussing up a storm in a whispered but all to audible level. Boxer, the Commander piped in telling everyone to shut their traps and to pay attention. He did not like the position that we were in so he ordered me to find cover for the ATV.

A wind started up and we could all hear it as it buffeted the armored hull of the ATV. The only other sound was the motion sensor that clicked away in an eerie and taunting manner. Outside the sand was kicking up, making visibility extremely difficult and limited. I was inching the ATV along as quickly as I could without having the turbines punch in as well as to not run into any obstacles outside.

Boxer was checking out the area trying to find a good spot to hold up and possibly defend ourselves if needed. Usually we were a pretty aggressive team, but having our dropship blown out of the sky and running across two completely decimated military outposts took the wind out of our sails. It did make us sharp though. Our focus was good and the team seemed to be working well. I think that we all just wanted to make it back to base and as far away from this planet as possible.

The dust outside reduced my visibility to only a few feet so progress was slow going. I was about to give the throttle a little more when I had to slam on the brakes. Tin Man uttered some expletive as well as questioning what I was doing when he looked outside. There in front of us was the mining headquarters, blown to hell. Bodies were lying all around the entrance and bullet holes littered the structure like some sort of plague.

The site before me took the wind out of my lungs. I had to remind myself to breathe again. With the military outposts, we saw bodies of soldiers and blown away barracks, and that was enough to scare the crap out of us, but this was different. This time it was families, men, women and children, all lay lifeless on the ground like so much driftwood or debris. That is when the motion sensor changed tones, indicating that whatever was out there was getting closer.

Boxer told me to move to a structure to the west of our position that had a huge, gapping hole that I could back the ATV into. While I positioned the vehicle into the structure the rest of the team booted up their individual weapons systems. The structure looked as if it were some type of garage area for mining vehicles as there were various drilling rigs and mechs laying about in ruin. As soon as the ATV was in position I activated the forward facing, 20mm cannon that was mounted under the driver's position.

A few tense moments passed when the motion sensor once again changed tones. This tone indicated that whatever it was tracking was now within firing range of our weapons systems. The commander slowly inched the turret with the duel 40mm cannons in the direction indicated by the sensor. The turret clicked into place as the rest of the team did the same with their individual weapons systems.

That's when we saw it. At first it seemed nothing more then a shadow in the blowing sand, but then it began to take form. A form of a machine that looked more like an animal on the prowl than a weapon. The thing was massive as it rolled around on two monstrous wheels. It looked to be outfitted with a minigun, two main guns and rocket pods mounted on either side of its hull. The thing gave me the chills as it rolled towards our position.

Tin Man broke the silence and exclaimed that the vehicle had our markings on it and that it must be a friendly unit. He was about to break radio silence when Boxer told him not to. The commander would always have a certain tone in his voice when he was trying to figure something out and this was one of those times. Tin Man started cussing again, which the commander ignored for the time being. He was thinking out loud so the whole team could hear his thought process.

He told us that he had seen this type of machine before back at Home base. The machines were known as Nomads, a new type of autonomous, A.I. weapons platform that was undergoing test the last that he heard of. The machines were capable of extended patrols for months on end on planets with extremely hostile environments. Tin Man was still cussing wanting to know why we were hiding from our own units when it hit me. I knew why the commander was holding position. There was no transponder signal.

The motion sensor would have sounded a completely different tone if the unit was a friendly and was transmitting its code. The tone we were hearing was that of an unfriendly unit, and by the looks of this machine I would say that it was not far off the mark. Boxer was in mid-sentence, thinking out load when all of a sudden he stopped. I looked up and that's when I saw the second Nomad creep out of the sandstorm like a phantom in search of a soul to devour.

To be continued.