Rahvin

“Sir, contacts.”

Michael looked up from the mostly-intact desk. He guessed it had once belonged to the receptionist. “Where?” he said, reaching down for his rifle.

Falkor checked his bio-detector again. “Three clicks west, sir, and closing.”

“Shit.” Michael stood. “Get the platoon ready. I want everyone in cover, with clear fire ranges. Snipers in the sixth floor and above, with support, and get sixty or so down here in the lobby.”

“Sir.” Falkor saluted.

Michael grabbed his arm before he could go. “Captain.”

“Yes sir?”

“Demons or Hybrids?”

“Hybrids, sir.”

“Your men still have those mortars we found?”

“Yes sir. I’ll have them deployed in the second floor. There’s a wrecked section with only two walls and no roof, on the west corner.”

Michael nodded. “Good. Now go.”

Falkor saluted once more, and strode off to organise the men. Michael scanned the men already in the lobby. They had overheard the officers, and were busy loading their weapons and making whatever makeshift cover they could – turning over tables, shifting chairs, blocking doors, anything that would slow down the Hybrids. The damn creatures might be animals, but they were insanely fast.

“Sergeant Briggs!”

The sergeant that had led Michael to the building looked up from barricading a low window. “Major?” he asked.

“Get your squad together. You’re with me.”

Briggs nodded. “Sir.” He motioned to his squad, and they assembled around Michael, in the centre of the lobby.

Michael checked his rifle. A full clip of fifty solid rounds, each one tipped with a small explosive charge that had enough punch to take a human limb clean off. Not much, against the demonically toughened flesh of the Hybrids, but better than nothing.

He gestured to the soldiers, and turned to face the rear wall. A wide, miraculously-unbroken staircase climbed the length of the wall, and a walled balcony doubled back horizontally at the top, giving access to the elevators and stairs. “We’re going up there,” he said.

From the balcony, the squad had an unobstructed view of the entire lobby. The lifts behind Michael beeped, and their doors opened to disgorge the forty soldiers of the fifth and eighth squads. Michael waved their sergeants over.

“Pull your men as far back as you can, underneath the balcony. Grab whatever cover you can, and shoot anything that comes near that door, even if it looks like one of us. It shouldn’t be dark enough for the Demons to come out yet, but I’m not taking any chances.”

The two sergeants saluted, and led their men down the stairs and into position. Now all they had to do was wait. Michael grabbed his radio, and keyed in Falkor’s frequency. “Captain?”

“Sir?” came the reply, as clear as if they were talking face-to-face.

“Status.”

“Mortars are set and ranged, with clear lanes of fire. Snipers posted; I’ve got the tenth squad on guard duty, five to each sniper team. First, second, fourth and seventh squads are in the four floors above you. Ninth squad is on support and sensors, down in the basement.”

“Good. How far away are the Hybrids?”

There was a pause, then Falkor said, “Less than a click, sir. They should be entering accurate mortar range in the next minute or so.”

A slight smile crept onto Michael’s face. “Fire as soon as they come into range, Captain,” he said.

“Yes sir.”

He braced his rifle on the wall, glancing around at the soldiers. Here and there, newer soldiers looked around in trepidation, afraid of what was going to come. That wouldn’t last long. In the 33rd, anyone who lived past their first engagement was part of the company, a veteran along with the rest. And those that didn’t… well, they were just plain dead.

Michael knew the top brass wasn’t happy with how he ran the company. They bandied phrases like ‘acceptable casualty levels’ and ‘minimal-risk tactics’ about, but he knew that not one of them had seen real combat. All except High Commander Sasayuke, who had been the only reason South America had held out as long as it did.

He didn’t like to lose people, but he could see the truth of this war. The Demons could kill with a touch. Kill, or worse. The UDF’s weapons were barely effective enough to make this war fightable. ‘Acceptable casualty levels’ were zero, but Michael knew that, realistically, that was never, ever going to happen against enemies as deadly as they faced.

The thumping of the first mortar shots snapped him back to concentration. Hybrids, he could kill. They were just another kind of animal. Animals that had once been human, but they were still mortal.

He reached into his pack and took out a flare, raising his voice to address the squads. No sense being quiet. The Hybrids already knew where they were, and the Demons themselves, if they were already out, didn’t put much store in sound. They had better ways of finding people.

“For some of you, this is your first action,” he said. “For others, it is the second, or third, or even more. Whatever your experience, I expect you to do the 33rd proud when those Hybrids come through that door. We are the United Defence Force. We are the best soldiers that can be trained, armed with the best equipment money can buy, and they are demon-twisted freaks! They are beasts, and beasts can die.”

He snapped the flare, and crimson light shone out, steady and bright. “I want everyone firing solids, but keep a clip of toxics close by. It’s getting dark, and I’m not taking chances. The Demons might not bleed, but they can definitely die. The one thing that we do not do, though, is fight them on their own ground. We fight where we dictate, when we choose, and how we choose. We hunt them, we catch them, and we kill them. We do not let them trap us, and we will not do that tonight!”

He threw the flare into the doorway below, where it cast its red light over the room. Shadows enveloped the back of the balcony. Michael’s military-spec contact lenses reacted almost instantly to the change in light levels and muted the brightest light, stopping him from being dazzled. The lenses were standard issue, but he knew they only provided protection from flashes if you knew to expect them. The half-second they took to detect and adjust for a threat was all too long in combat.

The mortars fell silent. The Hybrids were too close for them to hit anything anymore. Adrenaline reared its head in his chest, and his shifted his grip on the rifle. A few more seconds…

“Ready!” he shouted.

The reply was slightly out of sync, almost unintelligible, but Michael knew what they were saying. “For humanity and life!”

Just so everybody knows… he thought. Personally, he didn’t care for speeches, but he knew that others did. A good speech had saved lives, down the course of history; turned defeat into victory. So he made his announcement as best he could. For him, all he needed was the kick of his rifle and a pile of dead Hybrids.

The first Hybrid bounded over the barricaded doorway and into the lobby. The flare cast it in a demonic light, turning its already-bestial features into a vision from a nightmare. The spines piercing its hide glinted in the light, and its talons scraped against the floor as it flexed them in anticipation. Its slavering jaws opened wide, daggerlike teeth sharper than a bayonet.

Michael’s shot hit it in the left eye, and the round almost came back out through the back of its skull. Black blood flew, and it dropped to the ground, spasming in its death throes.

A cheer went up from the UDF, and the fight began in earnest. The Hybrid was replaced by two others, and they were cut down by precisely timed volleys. Two more leapt through, and then the rough barricade was smashed apart and the Hybrids poured inside.

There must be an entire precinct’s worth here, Michel thought as he fired steadily. Round after round cracked into the Hybrids, joined with the sixty other soldiers of his platoon, and Hybrids fell everywhere, unable to reach the disciplined UDF lines.

The solid rounds had little effect individually against the Hybrids’ thick hides, but sixty of them, firing in coordinated volleys, was an entirely different matter. Where one round struck, others seemed to follow, Sergeants directing their squads to focus fire on distinct groups of Hybrids.

A feral smile twisted Michael’s mouth as he killed.

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A-L

Excellent. I really liked this piece so far. I read the other parts and waited eagerly for the next and this didn't disappoint. Please read and comment Metropolis (science fiction, fantasy) anything would be appreciated.

Gate

I'm not an expert I have no ADVICE except write read re-write write some more Ill read it I like your story so far

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" Imagine if all you ever did was kill for God. What kind of being would you be? An Angel sword dripping, your wings always dipped in blood.....Imagine."

Mr Write

Marthous strolled casually down the street leaving a trail of dead demons behind him. A woman ran after him carrying a small baby in her arms.
"Thank you" she called after him. He ignored it. "You saved us, how can I,"
"Look" he turned abruptly making the woman take a few steps back, "I don’t care about you or your kid" he pointed a finger at her, then stopped. His head pounded and his eye began to twitch. The woman held her baby close to her, and moved back even more.
One word shot across his head, Maria. He turned from the woman; his head was completely messed up. He began to walk away now completely ignoring the woman’s cries, asking what she should do now. He couldn’t listen, he didn’t care, but at least he knew how to make the pounding in his head go away; he needed to kill more of those demons.

He moved faster down the street, looking in every direction. Whack! Something big and hairy smashed into his body knocking him to the floor, his arm felt as if it had been smacked by a bus, but it wasn’t broken. He looked up and smiled, it was a Hybrid, his second worst enemy, the creation of the demons, the transformation of weak humans.
The beast snarled at him, blood dripping from its sharp yellow teeth as it stood hunched over in the moonlight on the darkened street. It had already fed, and Marthous guessed he was second course. The demonic creature lunged through the air and landed heavily on top of him. It punched him hard in the face, claws scratching across it as it did. Marthous’s head slammed down onto the concrete, knocking him out for less than a second.
The beast roared down at him, but he could care less, so this was it, he would finally be set free. "Go on then!" he shouted up at the creature, his eyes wide and fearless.
The Hybrid pinned him down and went in for the kill. Bang! The Hybrid fell backwards off of him, it had been shot. Marthous sat up and turned his head, it was the 33rd. He really hated those guys, they were a long way off though, and killing countless Hybrids.
Marthous stood up and so did the Hybrid, it wasn’t dead and was now even angrier than before.
"Well, at least now we get a fair fight" he shouted at the creature. It lunged for him like before but Marthous moved quickly out of its way, it fell onto all fours and turned its head towards him, teeth clenched and breathing loudly.
Marthous stopped smiling and reached into his pocket as the creature charged towards him, blood filled drool oozing from its gums. Marthous pulled out the object and held it up, but there was no need for it, there was another loud shot right into the Hybrids spine and it stopped mid air and fell to the floor.
Marthous glared over at the soldiers. That was his kill, how dare they kill it first. He didn’t have time to deal with them now though; there was a nest of demons not far from here down in the underground tunnels, the perfect place for demons to live during the day, hopefully they would still be there. Of course the 33rd wouldn’t be there, they would never walk into a demon nest, for some reason they thought it unwise to fight them on their own ground, their loss, he thought.

He took out a cigarette, lit it and walked again casually down the street away from the noises of shouting men, gun shots and snarling beasts. The further he walked the darker it got until he reached the entrance of the nest, it wasn’t particularly well hidden but then if anyone went down there they would be ripped to shreds.
He ripped through the hanging vines surrounding the entrance; it was almost prehistoric compared to the shimmering city he had just walked from. This was an unused part of town; blown up the day those things had arrived. He closed his eyes; he wasn’t going to think about it, he was going to have some fun!
He entered the wide tunnel, it went down a long way, and he could see a lot of other tunnels that could lead anywhere. He threw down his cigarette butt and stepped on it.

His footsteps echoed as he walked along, he was surprised to see a red light, shimmering faintly at the far end of the tunnel. Perhaps there were more than just demons down here, Hybrids possibly, or maybe it was something else, he would find out soon enough.

Now he was away from the loud sounds of the street his mind could tease him once more, at the moment there was nothing to keep his brain occupied and he remembered the woman he had just seen on the street, she had reminded him of Maria and she had been carrying a child, he had always wanted a child, Maria hadn’t been too keen but he was sure they would have had one eventually, if she hadn’t been… he made his brain change the subject, killing, he thought, killing demons, his one and only hobby, his one and only purpose. He stopped and listened, he could hear something up ahead, it didn’t sound much like a demon, but it was too quiet to hear. He took the object from his pocket, his one and only weapon. He didn’t know where it came from or how it worked, all he knew was, it killed demons in seconds and tonight wasn’t going to be any different.

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Here’s what I’m currently writing
http://www.writingforums.com/fiction...ent-crows.html
Please tell me what you think

salmon the creative

Its an interesting plotline. I too dont usually go for stories involving creatures, hang on what am i saying i wrote a book with creatures in it lmao, but you pulled it off well! Keep on writing more i suggest!

Id give it 9.5/10!!

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MY CURRENT PROJECTS:

Well, writing, what do you think?!

Nefieslab

Ray saw the Hybrids throwing themselves at the entrance to the building where the soldiers were hiding. He shook his head and thought for a moment,
Should I really give a damn?
He chuckled and jumped off the back of the dead Hybrid he had used as a step. He clicked his claws together and heard their slightly metalic ting. He smiled. He really enjoyed the ting. He spread his arms out wide very suddenly, his claws pointed forwards. He breathed in and out deeply, calming his body. Calming his body even as he ran head first into the pack of Hybrids.

Ray sould found that diving into a pack of Hybrids was not a good idea. He felt their claws tearing through the air at blistering speeds and the sharp pain that came when he was too slow to avoid them. He gritted his teeth and slashed out with his own claws, cutting down three Hybrids. He ducked down when a slash came for his head and cut a further four Hybrids off at the knees. He jumped up again, slashing upwards as he did so, gutting one Hybrid straight away. He kicked one Hybrid into another and they all seemed to back off a bit. Ray sneered, the blood rage upon him,
"Come one you cowardly dogs!" he danced from foot to foot, "Come and face your end!"
Only one Hybrid was stupid enough to attack on his own. He immediately regreted it when he saw his own throat, detached, in Ray's hand. Ray looked up and was more than a bit surprised. They were all trying to attack him now.

Ray swore as he ducked and weaved through the Hybrids, trying to find a way out of the mindless slaughter. Of couse he did do his fair share of the killing, cutting Hybrids open from neck to groin. He finally managed to make it past them and he immediately bolted for the soldiers. He was a fighter, not a coward by any means, but he wasn't stupid or suicidal. He practically flew towards the soldiers,
"Private coming through! Make way for transfer soldier!" he roared over the sound of guns and smiled when no one seemed to shoot at him specifically. He threw himself over the barricades and flopped back against them, the soldiers around him seeing the small army badge that he was showing to everyone near him. He sighed,
"Where's the commanding office... oh shit!" he looked at his left shoulder and saw the huge torrent of blood snaking its way down his arm. He swore again, "Strike that last part! Medic!"

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Some fan fiction on Gundam Seed and Wing