The Token by Kevin Bird (the little red hen ebook .TXT) 📖

we need to go finish what we started last night. We’ll talk when it’s done.” He hung up the radio in its slot and nodded at Taren.
The man gave his report, “Everyone is rested, fed, and equipped ready for the grand finale. Cale has them outside now.”
“Very good, let’s go then.” He walked outside with Taren and found seventeen men waiting for him. They stood in a relaxed attitude; after all, they may have been dressed like soldiers, but they were still pirates. Though discipline did not sit well with them they’d do as Drake said so long as it meant profit for each; he understood them so well. Cale handed him his weapon as he briskly walked past telling everyone to follow.
They walked up the hillside above their vessel with little difficulty until they were about half way to their target area. At this point the ground became covered with larger boulders and fragmented rocks, creating uneven footing and the need for a continually changing line of march. Also, the hill turned into more of a mountain becoming steeper the higher that they traveled. Despite a few grumbles and mutterings they reached the first cave by mid-day. Cale told Drake that when he had been on this planet the first time he and the other employees of the Suppliers had chased some of the creatures this far and had dropped explosives down the shaft blowing the cave mouth shut. Expecting nothing to survive they had moved on to other caves. Somehow the cave mouth was open again.
“Let’s set up some trip mines in the tunnel and some frag grenades around the entrance. If the caves are connected and we gradually force those things downwards these little babies will stop them getting away from us.” Drake ordered Cale to detail men to go a short distance down the tunnel to set up the explosives. As they backed out they set the frag grenades in such a fashion that if anything dislodged them they would explode. He then led his men uphill doing the same at two other cave mouths till they reached what appeared to be the last. Up above, the ground rose steeply and the surface was so smooth that it was the considered opinion that even the powerful Hoppers wouldn’t have been able to climb it. This was the entrance they would begin their search in.

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Daylight was full outside of our cave homes and we were ensconced in the deepest, darkest recesses. We were not sure if we would see another night or if this would be our final resting spot. We had done all we could to prepare for the latter eventuality and felt as much peace internally as possible knowing we could do no more. Our time of life on our world was surely coming to an unnatural end; the two-legs were back to finish what they had started in the past.
Many of us had self-impregnated in the hopes that we would survive long enough to reproduce ourselves, but we held little hope for this dream. Our numbers were fewer now than the night before. We had lost many of our family to the pain-giving things the two-legs used to hurt us from a distance. There was no defense against that kind of an enemy, and deep down we all felt the inevitability of the situation hurtling towards us.
Several of us had been hurt last night but had made it back to our homes safely with only slight wounds. We were unsure of the things sticking from our flesh, but if they were supposed to have killed those hit by them then they had failed in their task. Some of us had already managed to dig at them long enough so they came loose from our bodies and fell to the floor. When this happened a strange flashing light was exposed coming from the end. We crushed them under foot not knowing what they were, but knowing they were made by the two-legs so they could not be anything except bad for our kind.
As a group we were concentrated in one of the highest caves in the mountain so we were as far from the invaders as possible. After all, we might be expecting death soon, but we would surely not invite it and, if it came to us, would certainly fight it. Many of us were now sleeping the light hours away; especially the young who seemed insulated to the horrors surrounding them.
What was that? The elders and some of the older youngsters sat up, awake and alert. Images and feelings of fear and anger sped from one to the other. Now we could see what it was that had startled us, we could sense by sound and by vibration the approach of danger. The two-legs were coming and they were close. We began to rouse the young and very old who now also sensed what was happening and were calm and ready for orders. We elders sent messages of decision. Some would stay and delay the intruders to give the others time to evacuate to deeper caves. Without hesitation we separated from the five who were to remain and we were gone. They would do what was necessary to help their family members, even if it meant death to them.

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As Drake and his men entered the cavemouth, the sunlight became faint and eventually vanished entirely. They turned on their powerful flashlights attached to the sides of their weapons. The lights showed the tunnel was twice the height of the tallest man and was wide enough for three of the pirates to walk side by side and not be brushing shoulders. The floor and the walls were rubbed smooth and Drake could hardly imagine the number of years it must have taken for these creatures to do this. He did not know how these tunnels had been originally formed, but he did know that they would not have been this smooth naturally. It gave him an awesome feeling of how small and short lived he was to think about the length of time the creatures had been the top predator of this planet before human kind came to change everything in the name of their war.
They came to a fork in the tunnel and as had been planned for this situation the group split in half, Drake leading one contingent and Taren the other. They had agreed to only split their forces to a maximum of three smaller groups below which it was deemed they would be spread too thin. To help them find their way they used radios and they left small glow sticks on the floor to mark their progress at each turn. They didn’t want to get lost in here. Each group also carried a small tracking device tuned to pick up the signal sent out by the tags embedded in the flesh of many of the creatures they were here to destroy.
It was cold and very dark, but their lights pierced the shadows and the men felt safety in their numbers and in the superior weapons they carried. They felt strong and ready for anything. That was good as, rounding a sharp bend, Drake’s group was suddenly attacked by what appeared to be a flying piece of the shadows that had detached itself from the wall ahead of them.
“Get down!” Drake shouted as he saw the dark shape leap out of nowhere at them. It flew over his head as he threw himself to the ground. From behind him he could hear everyone scrabbling to get out of the way also, but someone was too slow. Drake heard the scream as he began to get his bearings and tried to shine his flashlight beam in the direction from which he could hear a scuffling noise. As the light traversed the tunnel another scream broke through his helmet microphone. Someone in Taren’s group was being attacked at the same time, but right now he had to worry about the men in his group.
His flashlight’s beam, and others like it, found what their bearers had been searching for. At the back of the group was one of his men lying motionless on the floor.
“Cale, take a look.”
Drake saw a shape walk haltingly through the spears of light and bend over the still form. A second later Cale returned and went to Drake’s side.
Quietly he reported, “It’s Jadel, captain. Dead. His suit worked just like it was supposed to and the creature wasn’t able to get through the neck armor; unfortunately, the fool hadn’t pulled the visor down on his helmet. The thing must have just thrust its proboscis straight in and ripped out most of his face. No sign of the creature now.”
“Very well. We’ll pick him up on the way out.” He touched a button on his chest and spoke again. “Taren, do you read me?”
“Yes, captain.”
“What happened?”
“We were attacked by one Hopper. It got away.” He sounded as if he were trying to control himself after the shock of the sudden event. His breaths came quick and seemed unnaturally loud over the headsets. “We’re OK. It just knocked a couple of us down. No one was injured.”
“I want three watching the rear of each group as we move forward, and everyone make sure your helmets are secured and the visors are locked in place. Let’s take this careful. Move out.” He walked directly behind the three point men ready to fire now that he knew what to look for; a darker area than the shadows surrounding them. “We don’t have a shortage of ammunition so, if in doubt, fire.”
The next time they were ready and as the blackness detached from the shadows ahead of them, seemingly flying through the air towards their heads, four guns blazed out. Explosions of color and noise erupted in the confines of the rock walled tunnel almost blinding and deafening those trapped within it. The shape seemed to be thrown back through the air in different directions. Drake and his men had shot true and the animal was clearly dead.
Before the ringing in his ears had died away, lights flared again as the men at the back of the group began firing. Drake ran back, Cale at his side, and saw a black shape atop one of his men. It was in the process of ripping through the man’s armor when it was hit by a hail of carefully aimed weapons fire that blew it apart. The flashlights traversed the tunnel behind to see the body of another creature they had killed moments before. These things had attacked the front and rear of Drake’s group simultaneously. Once again he felt amazement, not so much for the creature itself, but more so for the Supplier fools who had decided that this lifeform was unintelligent and should have been removed from this world. It was obviously a smart adversary and Drake would not take it for granted.
Cale reported to him that the man who had just been downed had been saved by the quick and accurate shooting of his comrades and the fact that this time the suit, fully utilized, had been successful in doing what it was designed to do. He was wounded, but would be able to continue with them, and his injuries would heal soon enough. Drake looked around and could see that though his men were a little shook up by the attacks, they were also now feeling secure in the knowledge that their weapons and armor gave them power. They also knew that the enemy was not invincible even on its own turf. They moved on with purposeful strides.

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The images of pain, anger and death shot