Harbinger/3

Desperate Alliance
"Ring the alarm! Ring the alarm!" shouted Daniel at the top of his voice. The guards immediately complied, and within moments everyone was wide awake, even the tired soldiers.

"Guys, guys!" Daniel strove to get the others' attention. "We're not holding this city. We're moving out! Now everybody, get your belongings, and I mean now!" There was a storm of movement, a flurry of activity swirling out from the village's residential areas to the central platform where a squadron of dropships had begun to land, just as expected.

From the dropships emerged four speed-bikes, rushing at top speed toward various locations in the village...

"What're those?" Daniel wondered out loud.

"They're Vulture speed bikes," replied Michael. "The military model. They reportedly go as fast as two hundred kilometers an hour, and can engage targets and then get out really fast."

"What're they doing here, going to fight the lisks?" Sarlena was incredulous. Four speed bikes against a lisk army...

"No, they're not here because of their fragmentation grenades. They're here to sow their seeds throughout the village."

"Their seeds???" He doubted that Vulture speedbikes were like plants. They generated seeds, that could develop into more Vultures. Fantastically impossible.

"No, he means spider mines," Christopher charged into the conversation. "Those'll take down plenty of the lisks, that is, if they set off properly."

"Well, assuming the lisks are so stupid that they'll come into a ghost village--"

"They won't know the difference. Look right there!" Daniel followed Sarlena's pointing finger, and saw several pigs being herded into the center of the village. Sacrificial animals. For real, this time. "Bet the lisks will take interest in those juicy pigs, they have awfully sharp teeth to be herbivores."

"IT'S NOT FUNNY," said a marine nearby. The foursome quieted immediately.

"Hey, watch your tongue, private," Daniel lashed back. He wasn't about to let a subordinate order him around.

"How would you like it if you were in that position?"

"Hey looky here, why don't you shut up before WE put YOU in that position of sacrifice, all right?" Sarlena could get tough if she wanted to, realized Daniel. But this definitely wasn't the time to bicker with one's ally.

"Everyone, calm it!"

The others looked at him. What for?

Daniel used the lull to take a good look at the marine. "Tell me, private, do you sense anything--out of the ordinary?"

The marine at first refused to speak and shrank back, but with a bit more prodding, he continued, "I sense--I sense a bit of fear emanating from the pigs." Those who were listening burst into laughter. Who cares what emotions pigs have?, wondered some.

"Of course it matters," replied Daniel, not realizing what was happening. "It matters every single bit to me, because as far as I'm concerned every person on this planet are helpless pigs unable to escape from the clutches of the aliens, even should they run!"

Silence. Complete silence. Then:

"What's come over you?" asked Christopher. "You don't seem to be the normal Daniel any more."

"Yeah, I realize that I'm making an internal transition, so?" He then calmed himself; no advantage getting angry at another person. He shrugged, not knowing how to answer to the queries practically written on the faces of the civilians.

"Just... Just leave the guy alone, he's--he's got something special in...in him, and now you all GET BACK TO THE DROPSHIPS AND LEAVE!" Then he turned around and stomped to his own dropship, wondering, just what is going on?

The rush to get on board, and the ensuing battle for space to hold one's less-prized, but still valuable, belongings, claimed more than a few lives. It took longer than anyone would have hoped for, but nevertheless, they had evacuated, thought Daniel, as the last of the Quantradyne engines flared to life, rising high into the sky, leaving a golden column of smoke in its wake.

A minute later, they were all in the high skies, and the dropships began disappearing one after another, arcing across the planet to the safety of the primary city. "No, we shall stay here, and watch as the lisks progress. I believe that there is much we can learn about their ways," decided Daniel affirmatively. The others at first looked at him as if he were crazy, then complied, and the warrant officer decided to land again.

The lisk army was now only a few miles away.

"So. No one finished telling me about the spider mines. What're they?"

"They burrow into the ground and then when the enemy comes close they pop up and detonate their metallic shell, killing enemies instantly," replied Christopher, trying not to seem too full of technical jargon.

"Do they do anything differently?"

"Erm, no..."

After a moment of pondering, Daniel came across a conclusion. "Then the spider mines won't be all that useful being left alone like this, when it comes to defending Los Andares."

"What, do you have a plan?"

"No, not yet, but I'll need one soon. I first want to find out what intelligence our enemy has. That all right with you guys?" Plenty of nodding from the thirty-odd soldiers in the dropship.

"Strap yourselves in boys, we're in for some chop," notified the warrant officer, the pilot. Daniel looked out one of its many windows and saw an extensive sand storm rolling in like the spreading of mudddy water, billowing, from another direction.

Daniel knocked on the ship's skeleton. "She comes fully equipped with the standard scanners, right?"

"Yes," said the pilot, over his shoulder. And with that, the rockets lifted off.