Imperium - Dynasty Begins Ch. 02

Samael took a deep breath, "And can we, please, do something about that phrase? Truth Test? Really? You couldn't find something more dignifying?"

"It's a good name," the man rumbled.

His heart thumped in his chest. Samael felt her slide and adjust the strange bracelet around his wrist. He noticed it's cold metal filaments, oddly comfortable on his skin.

"Alright, done. I'm about to ask you few test questions. Answer 'YES' to first and 'NO' to second," she instructed.

Samael nodded.

"Is today Friday?"

"Yes," Samael briefly said, his heartbeat increasing.

The woman nodded as nothing happened, "Are you a man?"

"No," Samael said and bracelet gave him a strong shock.

His plans to stand still and pretend the shock didn't happen went down in flames. The bracelet's shock was too strong to ignore. Or pretend it wasn't happening. He was gasping by the end of it.

"God damn that hurt," Samael shook his head, the pain causing him a migraine at the same time. Not good.

The woman smiled, "Great. It's working."

"Before we go any further I want to make a complaint. Burn the name, call it "the Test" then more people could be interested by all of this. Truth test, give me a break," Samael felt his migraine was getting worse.

The man beside him grumbled, "The name stays."

She looked towards her accomplice and he nodded, "Alright, are you affiliated in any way with the Imperium of Mars?"

Samael held his breath as he said, "No."

The words echoed in the room. He waited few moments for the shock to come, but nothing.

"Good, good. We now get you on shuttle and you go to Paris," The man holstered his gun and smiled.

The woman, 'Captain Blue', smiled and closed her eyes, "I see a world at peace. Masses of people grateful for their freedom. Now off you go."

"Peace, love and rock & roll. I get it. Now about the name," Samael tried one last time.

"The name stays. Leave it be," the man hissed.

Samael saw it wasn't worth the fight so he held his hands up in surrender, "Don't come crying to me when your box of complaints starts overflowing."

Finally, the man had enough, he grabbed Samael by the jacket and dragged him out, "Truth test. Fuck, we're all going to die," Samael shook his head as his feet were being hauled behind.

With a few breaths he was out and boarding a shuttle.

A strange day indeed, "Truth test. Holy shit, if I never hear something so stupid again. I'll be happy and lucky. I might even tell my grandchildren about this day, of course if I get over the embarrassment that I was in the same room where the name was said," his entire body shook in revulsion.

After the shuttle was on its way to descent to the ground he left for the bathroom where he promptly expelled all of the contents from his stomach. The stress from the final question finally getting to him.

He never expected to pass.

Yet here he is, alive.

*

"Bugs. They are advancing," the commander watched the map of the battle in horror.

The captain nodded, "Yes they are. Prepare the troops."

The officer near him snapped a salute and started barking orders over his radio. Walking hurriedly to his post. The men were left alone. The Captain watched the map with tired eyes.

"Cap, there aren't many of them who can fight," the man whispered, his captain suddenly starting to walk outside.

The men walked through their camp, "How many?"

"Eight men combat ready, others are wounded," the man whispered.

The captain glanced at the man, "How badly?"

The man shook his head and whispered, "Pretty bad, I don't think some of them will make it."

Seeing the man stop in his tracks he swallowed hard, "What do we do," the commander whispered.

Captain Claude shook his head, "I don't know Matt. We wait for reinforcements. The only thing we can do."

"Another one of those swarms attack us and we might be overrun," his second-in-command noted.

The men's jet-black armor shined in the sun. Their armor protecting them so far from bullets, shrapnel's, but the bugs' claws, stingers and other weapons proved the armor's only weakness.

The camp they were in was rustic, without walls and tents where the homes should be. They were sent with strict orders to help the settlers who would come after them. The camp was never for combat purposes, yet here they are trying to survive another day.

The men were on a strange planet. Several light years from their home. What little intelligence they had about this place told them the planet was a utopia waiting for someone to plant their flag on it. Nobody told them about the murderous plants, animals and other things in the dark waiting for a meal to come.

The accursed bugs came in waves. Never ending. The only thing stopping their advance is their weapons. Bolt rifles, lazguns and flamethrowers. However, they were slowly running out of supplies. The swarm slowly chipping away at them with their sheer numbers.

Captain Claude stepped over a particularly nasty bug, the smell emanating from its corpse was revolting. Nobody had the stomach or courage to approach the bug and move it away from the camp, and he had no reason to order any of his men to do it. Some looked they would choose the easier way out. Yet still, he kept it together. He kept it the first time he saw the carapace of their warriors, "We can only hope," he whispered as he saw their newest kill.

A 10foot long monster. Its jaws were filled with razor sharp teeth. Humongous maxilla snapped closed, it took apart one too many of his men. Another lost his arm. In its death the beast snapped its mandible closed and took out the troopers left arm clean off. He watched as countless of the bugs legs twitched in its post mortem spasm. Its dark greenish blood oozing from the burning holes from their weapons. One bug this time. Only one. It took them over 30 minutes to take it out. Their weapons seemed woefully ineffective.

"GOD DAMN IT," Claude watched and listened.

He closed his eyes and he could still see the jungle in front of him. The sounds of the of the river, rustling leaves and other alien noises kept them awake at night. Nothing was utopian about this world. They were lacking food and water.

They should incinerate the whole planet, then come back and piss on it.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK," he yelled.

"Sir," the man beside him whispered.

He bit his anger back, "Prepare the men. We're not going to die here."

His second watching him in shock, Claude turned and spat, "Every one of these men will hold a weapon. We're not going to bend over and die to a bunch of fucking bugs. Those who can't we'll put further back and hope they don't get killed. We're going to survive this."

The movement of bugs echoed throughout the jungle. Dead branches, leaves and trees were being crushed by their walk. A thumping sound of something heavier approaching could be heard by all men around the camp. Several nervously watched in the thicket as the noises echoed around them.

"Prepare yourselves," The captain yelled to his men, to those that could hear.

As he stepped to his position a giant creature ran out of the jungle. Swarmed by a mass of different kind of insects. The bugs were in process of eating its flesh, burrowing inside of it. A large centipede was burrowed half way inside its skull. The poor animal had a terrified look in his eye as it started stomping to their camp. The men immediately showered the poor creature with hail of bullets. Super-heated bullets penetrated its tough leathery skin like it was nothing. Blood sprayed from its wounds as it screamed, dying.

The men waited for a while. Some nervously shook; the sight of bugs burrowing into a living being's skin left them terrified. The bugs that jumped off the creature were burned with a flamethrower; those that didn't burrow into the ground fast enough. One man launched a grenade into the hole in anger and killed the bug that just disappeared inside of it. After the rumbling explosion and shower of dirt and rocks, there was nothing. Silence.

The men suddenly screamed their victory.

"Fuck you, monsters," one of them cried out and spat towards the hole.

Others ran towards the creature on the ground. The 10-foot centipede that was half way under its skull was burned. Half of it was twitching, the other half; who knows?

The creature looked like a giant buffalo, the captain kneeled beside it, "Can we eat it?"

Matt stopped near him, an instrument in his hand, "This says we can," the man whispered.

"Fuck. We got a meal tonight," The captain rubbed his hands together.

Captain Claude turned towards the men, "Someone get a large knife, cut of its head. No telling what that thing is capable of."

Matt approached cautiously towards the captain, "We should save the head in a protective container for the scientists. They'll want to examine this."

Claude grimaced, "I don't like it, but I understand. If it was me I'd fucking nuke it from the orbit," he turned towards another man waiting with a rifle on his shoulder, "Get a container. We'll save the head for the boys."

The man ran towards their supplies. Those they could save. A metallic container was chosen, usually used to protect medical waste from spilling into the environment, this one was empty. He dragged it back and waited for others who were discussing where and how to properly cut the beast's head off. The man noticed the large head could barely fit into his chosen tank.

"What the fuck is that," came a silent gasp from another man.

Captain Claude watched the same spot where the man was pointing and he couldn't speak. His mind couldn't register what he was seeing.

"Mother, help me," he heard another soldier cry out.

In the thicket they could see a face staring them down. A monster. A face - a large face with a gaping maw, filled with razor sharp teeth. It snarled silently as it tilted its head from side to side. The man couldn't be sure what he was seeing, nothing in his life looked like it. A monster. That was the only word that came to his mind. If they ever get home, he knew it would haunt his dreams forever.

Finally, its face retreated slowly. The thick leaves beside it masking its path.

The mood in the camp became strangely different. Suddenly no one was hungry. Most of the men weren't even sure what they saw was real. Their mind surely played tricks on them. Tired and weary, surely this event couldn't be real.

"Call. . . Send the message. We need help. Send it. Keep sending it until you get a response," The captain whispered.

"Yes . . . yes sir," came a whispered reply, the man ran to do what he was told.

No one commented the piss stains on his pants. No one would ever hold it against him. They were unprepared.

No one slept in the camp that night.

Everyone kept staring at the same spot. Waiting for the thing to appear.