Ok this is my first FF. So there may be a few mistakes here and there so any helpful criticism would be appreciated. This FF is centered around a new alien race called the Areklecko. So thanks for reading the first out of 6-7 chapters.
From Below
Prologue:
When the union of alien races known as the “Covenant” found
and activated the Ark in the sands of Africa, the ancient Forerunner technology buried deep
within the earth wasn’t the only thing to be awakened. Beneath the earth’s crust, in deep,
undiscovered caverns, hundreds of once dormant eggs began to hatch and little
do we know, a new species is evolving right beneath our feet. While we recover from almost being
exterminated, a new race is preparing to attack, preparing to take back what
was once their planet.
Chapter 1 – First Encounter
Fire Base Alpha, Northeast of
London,
February 27, 2883, 8:05 A.M.
Mission Objective: Five tourists have gone missing after entering
the Ice Cave not far from here. The only evidence of communication is a
garbled radio transmission in which all that could be made out were
screams. Find these tourists and get
them to safety.
Sam Conners sat in the back of the over packed albatross
that was on route to Fire Base Alpha just a little ways from London. Sam himself was 23 years old, about
6.5 ft tall, HAD brown wavy hair which was now a buzz cut, blue eyes, and an
average build. He regretted leaving for
his first real and potential combat mission just 1 day from his own and his
wife Karen’s anniversary where he had promised to take her and their kids 7
year old Elliot and 4 year old Amy on a trip to one of the outer colonies. He found it rather hard to think with the
twenty seven other marines that were talking loudly over the albatross’s
engines and ignored when someone stumbled into him while walking across the
deck.
Upon landing, he was the last to exit and stood just outside
the hatch while looking around at the barracks, vehicle depot and the various
watch tower position in a large rectangular pattern around the area while
holding his hand just above his eyes to accommodate for the bright sun.
“Hey!” a voice called out as another marine came jogging
over to him,
“Do you know where we are supposed to meet Sgt. Anderson?”
“No” Sam replied in a quiet tone. The marine who was still panting introduced
himself as James Willerd. He was a bit
shorter than Sam, 22 years old, had dark brown eyes, and a slim build, and his
hair also was a buzz cut. Sam took a
guess that they were supposed to go to the command post for briefing so they
started walking in its direction.
Upon entering, Sam and James saw several other marines and
the sergeant standing at roughly the center of the room,
“Welcome to Xeda squad” Sgt. Anderson said in a loud and
stern voice
“For some of you this will be your first combat
mission. Don’t forget your training and
you will survive. Fall out! I expect you
all at Pelican echo 612’s landing pad in 5”.
Sam and James walked out with the rest of the squad and just
followed the crowd until they came to the landing pad where they waited while
the pilots started the pelican’s engines and when the Sarge. Came into view,
they all marched on board.
Sam sat closest to the entrance and James sat next to him. Sam felt a sudden jump when the pelican took
off and began to accelerate; another marine leaned forward who was sitting
across from Sam,
“Hi Im Frank Jefferson” said the marine “you know what kind
of enemies were fighting?” he asked.
“No” Sam replied, Frank was quite large, not fat but just
bulky, he had blonde hair which was also a buzz cut, brown eyes, and a scar
running from beside his left eye down to his nose.
Once they landed and the nine members of Xeda squad filed
out, Sam saw a team of London’s
police force waiting for them along with another sergeant leading them; I guess
those tourists were their responsibility as well. Without much talking, both teams entered the
cave on two separate paths. The Ice Cave
sure lived up to its name, the walls and ceiling were covered in a thin yet
noticeable layer of ice which made the cave look rather majestic as it
glistened and sparkled in the sunlight, but all that changed when Xeda squad
descended deeper into the dark depths of its many tunnels. The team followed the lights projected by the
flashlights mounted on the barrels of 3 of the marines’ MA6B Assault rifles as
they led the way into a large circular room in which the sarge ordered everyone
to take up a position at roughly each of the room’s three entrances, one by the
entrance, one in the northeastern corner of the room and another which was on
an angle in the ceiling where as a marine had to stand at the opposite end of
the room in order to get a clear view of it.
Sam positioned himself by the northeaster tunnel and leaned
up against the icy wall, Frank stood at the opposite side of the tunnel while
James kept watch on the ceiling exit.
The sarge was talking to someone over the comm. and Sam
impatiently kept swaying his head back and forth from the entrance of the
tunnel he was guarding to the other side of the room. One time however something caught his
attention in the darkness of the tunnel; there were two yellow, glowing “slits”
that were elevated about 8 or 9 feet of the ground. Sam sat up turned his whole body around and
stared back at them. He was about to
take a few steps towards them when he felt an overwhelming urge NOT to. He reconsidered, turned around and called the
sarge over.
“What is it private?” Sgt. Anderson said as he strode over,
“uhh sir there’s something in the tunnel here, like eyes or
something”
“I don’t see anything son” Anderson replied with a slight hint of
irritation.
“What? They’re right….here…they were here” Sam said as he
turned in astonishment to find that the “eyes” were gone.
Anderson
approached Sam until he was right in his face and his eyes narrowed.
“I’ll keep a look out for these glowing eyes, but until then
I have a job to do and so do you. I
don’t want any more BS from you unless it’s something important. Are we clear?” He growled.
“Yes sir!” Sam shakily replied.
“Alright team!” Anderson
announced “The depth of this cave is screwing with our comm. gear, and I need three
volunteers to head up to the surface with me and establish proper communications. The rest of you are to advance further
inside.”
Well now all that was left was Sam, Frank, James, a younger
marine named Bill, and a female marine named Ashley.
“Ok” Sam said, “Let’s continue going inside. Keep a lookout for the tourists and keep your
eyes and ears open. There’s something
wrong with this place”.
The team advanced down Sam’s tunnel, they didn’t get far
before they found a set of massive
footprints, bigger than any grizzly bear or lion that he had ever heard
of. They followed the tracks for a few
meters before they found something odd.
Another pair of tracks, however these ones were different, the footprint
on the right was that of whatever animal that they had been following earlier
and the one on the left was that of a human.
These tracks changed into solid human boot prints before stopping all
together at the entrance of a huge, dark cavern. The team wearily advanced inside, Sam traded
Frank for his MA6B and they all advanced in an arrow formation, Sam in front
with Frank and Bill in the second and Ashley and James in the rear. They stuck to following a wall section until
they came to the corner where they saw a black and roughly humanoid figure with
its back to them, standing in front of a stalagmite.
Bill looked at the rest of the team, shrugged and stepped
forward.
“Umm, excuse me sir?” No response so he took another couple
of steps
“Sir!? UNSC marine squad, we’re here to rescue you.” At this point the creature slowly turned
around and revealed itself to be…well…not human at all. Easily nine feet tall
with two glowing eyes and a large array of fangs extending from the top and
bottom of its mouth. It had dark black
skin and very large limbs.
“Holy sh*t!!” Bill exclaimed as he raised his MA6B as did
the rest of them.
Standing at a stale mate, the creature took a step towards
them, the team twitched and focused their aim in return, then the creature
lowered to one knee, its skin rippled and a series of tentacles burst out of
its back, its limbs warped and the creature shifted into a more animal like
form, standing on four legs with a flurry of tentacles waving around its
backside. Letting out a terrifying roar
it began to move towards Sam and his team.
Eyes widened in fear, Sam and the rest of his team all fired
in unison at the large monster that didn’t seem all that affected by their
erratic gunfire, and when it burst into a sprint, the team turned and ran.
They were almost at the entrance of the large cavern before
Bill tripped on a ledge and fell to the ground with a sickening snap as his leg
got impaled on a small stalagmite that tore through the bone, Sam stopped and
Bill yelled out
“Go!!! I’ll hold it as long as I can”. Sam turned and ran, then cringed as he heard
gunfire then blood curdling screams and the sound of tearing flesh and bone as
the monster ripped Bill to pieces.
The rest of them ran as fast as they could through the
tunnel then into the room where Sam had seen the eyes…more like its eyes. Sam heard heavy foot falls, turned and saw
the monster barreling down the corridor after him. Sam took his MA6B in one hand and aimed it
blindly behind him and pulled the trigger, a few painful cries could be heard
and Sam held the trigger down until he heard a *click* where as he slung his
weapon and rounded a corner to the home stretch. He could see light, but his hopes plummeted
when the heave footfalls grew louder. It
was gaining on him. Ahead of the team,
what remained of the London
police squad came sprinting out of an adjacent corridor where they to were
firing at something further down.
Sam was now but a few feet from the exit and he felt the
monster’s hot breath on the back of his neck as it continued to pursue him, he
lowered his head, closed his eyes for a few seconds and ran harder and with
more determination then he had ever ran before.
He opened his eyes to see Sgt. Anderson and the other half of Xeda squad
ready with their weapons leveled at the entrance, Sam burst out into sweet
daylight and dove to the ground. He rolled over to see the monster exit the
cave, reel backwards in pain as the sunlight hit its skin and it retreated as
the sergeant and the rest of Xeda squad opened fire on it as it retreated.
“What the F*ck were those things!?!?” Ashley let out as she
dropped her helmet to the ground and paised relentlessly around the
pelican.
“Take a breather soldiers” Anderson said “you’ve done well. We’ll evac. tomorrow morning”.
Thanks Ryzza & Mr. Bacon for teaching me how to make these