Chapter 15: First contact(2)

All the androids stood motionless, staring at the lower mortar of their inert comrade, falling from the immense maw of the disproportionately large creature.

This thing's body was similar in size to that of a St Bernard. On the other hand, it had three sinister eyes. One was located at the back of its head, surveying its surroundings. Another was high up at the front of its head, watching the group in front of it, as was its last eye, located in the very center of its head, right in the middle of its jaw.

The creature leapt forward with disconcerting speed, ignoring the groans behind it, as well as the silhouettes similar to its own. It charged forward with its imposing skull about a quarter of the size of its body, almost literally splitting its head in two, even splitting the eye in the middle of its jaw. The opening revealed a monstrous mouth, seemingly making up three-quarters of the creature's head, ending directly on a throat surrounded by an imposing collar-like structure, with a pulsating, tooth-filled interior, still crushing the last few metal pieces of its latest victim.

The unexpected scene stunned many androids. The creature's speed caught even the most hardened clones off guard. Even the one targeted by the charge barely managed to dodge the blow by throwing itself to the side. The snapping of the creature's maw caused excruciating pain in his ear. The creature's jaw closed so quickly that it was impossible to discern the precise moment when it snapped shut. The beast recovered almost instantly, switching targets as the majority of the androids were petrified, some lying on the ground, eyes wide open.

However, Alice and a few other androids reacted, as did all the clones. They pointed their weapons at the creature, unleashing a murderous salvo before it could even react. Yet the creature charged again, ignoring all danger. It skilfully avoided the androids' clumsy shots, and even the clones' precise ones without any real difficulty, such was its speed. This left only the target of the charge, Matricule 231, who precisely discharged a jet of pressurized plasma into the creature's mouth and throat. Contact with the plasma caused it to melt from the inside out, the flames devouring the flesh all around, including the razor-like hairs that covered its entire body. The creature screamed an agonizing cry of agony, its half-melted mouth suddenly snapping shut with a violent crash, even partially shattering its lower jaw.

The deafening roar made several distant, inhuman figures turn their heads. They immediately charged towards the noise, while the humanoid figures retreated, cornered on all sides as their numbers continued to dwindle. The idea of seeing those they were trying to save killed one after the other momentarily captured the attention of one of the androids. His inattention, however, spelled his death, as he was violently mauled by one of the creature's legs, which split in two during its charge, exposing its razor-sharp bone which cut through half the android's abdomen without even slowing down, causing him to scream in terror as he fell to the ground, before being devoured by another of the creatures.

The clones struggled to react to the growing influx of enemies cornering them, placing them in a situation similar to that of the squad they had come to save, of which only a dozen or so could now be seen, barely surviving thanks to the diminishing number of enemies. Some of the androids, once terrified, were crawling along the ground, crying out in pitiful terror, begging in vain for their lives. However, their numbers dwindled as the creatures devoured them in one fell swoop. Resistant clones or androids were unable to protect anyone but themselves, which had the effect of further reducing the number of tetanized androids, or forcing them to desperately clutch their weapons so as not to end up like those who had given up all hope of survival.

Alice stood at the heart of this morbid scene, now filled with the different-colored fluids of the shredded androids, mingled with the blood of fallen clones and creatures. She held her weapon calmly, doing her best to mimic the two clones beside her, instinctively forming a united group. Each entrusted his back to the other so as not to suffer a counter-charge from the creatures who had survived their numerous bursts of fire, now behind them. The others adopted similar strategies to avoid becoming isolated and easy prey in this open terrain.

The two clones and Alice opened fire almost constantly, ignoring the advisor's rest periods between shots, turning the barrels of their weapons red from the repeated jets of plasma they endured without being able to cool down. Thanks to this, however, the number of creatures was visibly decreasing rather than increasing.

Alice fired at one of the charging creatures, hitting it in the leg, but it didn't fall. It sliced off its front paw, melting due to the heat, with the sharp part of it, keeping its mouth wide open and appearing like a wall in front of Alice, having lost all composure in the face of the situation and firing repeatedly, even melting the alloy of the barrel of her weapon as it fell on her hands, which ignited almost instantly on contact with the molten metal.

However, the beast facing him had received so many shots in its mouth and throat that the upper part of its jaw detached from its inert body, which nevertheless continued its charge, before melting further and further as it fell to the ground. Flames even appeared on the body, and part of the jaw continued its course, striking Alice head-on, knocking her down onto the two clones leaning against her, who in turn fell to the ground, blocked by the imposing, cutting jaw. The flames melted the creature's narrow skull, leaving a strange liquid running down Alice's face and upper body covered by the jaw. Despite the liquid entering her wide-open mouth, her expression froze in terror.

Still in shock, she didn't move until one of the clones beneath her unclenched himself to stand upright, forcing her to move the imposing jawbone of her hands, from which no skin remained, and where only her almost melted fingers remained. Once freed from the weight covering her, she scrambled to her feet, along with the two clones who were trapped with her, their faces bloodied by the superficial cuts that a simple contact with the tip of the jaw had given them. Immediately after rising to their feet, however, they were all forced to pick up their weapons again. But when Alice retrieved her weapon, she could only sigh as she let it fall to the ground. Hearing the sound of the weapon crashing to the ground, one of the two clones whispered to his partner, who nodded, firing in a flurry in any direction the creatures approached. The other clone stepped forward to speak to Alice.

"That was a good job, you saved us all from certain death, but don't throw your weapon away like that, even destroyed it can save your life, having a bar of riftine in your hands is always better than nothing."

The clone's relaxed words denoting the horrific scene unfolding all around them made Alice smile slightly, prompting her to quickly respond as she picked up her destroyed weapon.

"You're right. Thanks."

"I like that state of mind."

Replied the clone with a smile, pulling out an aged and slightly rusty knife from a compartment in his old armor, rushing his answer and gestures when his comrade gave him a quick nudge to remind him of the urgency of the situation they were facing.

"Hang this on your scrap metal, it'll be better than nothing, but you'll have to give it back to me - we're forbidden to part with our equipment, Comman's orders..."

"Shut up and help me!"

shouted the last clone as his weapon began to overheat dangerously, prompting the clone who was talking to Alice to throw his knife at him as he got back into firing position to support his comrade who was talking, a little less urgently, to Alice.

"Little one, strike with your bayonet if we get charged, but don't sacrifice yourself for nothing, if you go down, all three of us go down."

Alice nodded at the quick sentence, hooking the bayonet to her weapon with a large piece of her pants which she cut with the knife, slightly nicking her thigh in the rush. She prayed it would hold, despite the fact that the weapon wasn't designed for this, and took up a rough fighting stance.

All the clones and androids were fighting hard, each with the aim of seeing the sun rise once more. No one wanted to end up like their new, and now old, comrades, who had been suckled by fear and devoured. Thanks to the efforts of the survivors, the number of imposing corpse-beasts had been greatly reduced. Only melted or mutilated corpses littered the ground as the last few creatures were killed, leaving Alice behind her comrades, the danger ever present despite the small number of opponents left.

It was only when the last creature fell that the group could breathe a sigh of relief. The clone who had lent Alice his knife gave her a quick pat on the shoulder with a sincere smile, while pointing with his other hand to an intact weapon held by one of the clone corpses whose lower half had been severed. Alice then quickly picked up the weapon, trying to address the clone, but was cut off by the words of Matricule 321, who was staring at the spot where the squad they had come to rescue was fighting, now devoid of any sign of life.

"Commander, swarm of creatures decimated, however the squad we were to rescue was decimated after we arrived on the scene, number of casualties negligible, loss estimated at two-thirds of androids and one-quarter of clones."

The commander's voice was then heard by the entire squad.

"Report received, recover the corpses of the creatures for analysis, as well as those of the androids, take all weapons, armor, and devices left by the dead and return to the nearest camp."

"Received."

Matricule 231 replied, expressionless. It wasn't until one of the black-haired, green-eyed androids spoke that he spoke again.

"What do you want, Smithe?

"I was wondering when the consciousness of the androids falling here will be transferred to a new body, and whether or not they'll be forced to fight again."

"They'll never be transferred."

Replied Matricule 231, still devoid of emotion as he tore away the possessions still held by the dead, who were until recently the men under his command.

"Why this!"

Smithe shouted, indignant at the inhuman response.

"Do you think you have enough bodies blank of consciousness, or the means to create them, to accommodate all the dead androids? Their bodies will serve as spare parts to repair those that survived if supplies run short."

Matricule 231 said in a detached voice, pointing at Alice's hands as she struggled to hold the knife without trembling, silently returning it to the clone who had lent it to her. Seeing this, Smithe was left speechless, but couldn't think of anything to say in response, once again letting a silence, now synonymous with safety, fill the surrounding area, although a few whispers could still be heard, including those of Alice.

"Thanks again for the knife. But can I ask your name?"

The clone chuckled faintly, answering Alice discreetly.

"You're welcome, I'm glad you didn't have to use it, and my name is ID461. And what's your name?"

"Alice, in any case, I didn't expect to see such an expressive clone."

Alice replied, nonchalantly removing the armor from the corpse whose weapon she'd taken.

"Since we started in the tank, we've been conditioned to fight, not to have emotions, so I hope you won't hold my friends' lack of emotion against them."

"No, we need calm people precisely, without you we'd all be dead."

"You say that, but you were remarkable too, even now, you don't seem put off searching the dead unlike the majority of the remaining androids."

"Who says I'm not put off by it, I hate doing it, but the sooner it's done the sooner we can get out of this place."

"Eh, good thinking."

ID461 replied as he walked away, before being interrupted by Alice with a simple name.

"Jeffe."

"Jeffe?"

Replied the clone, intrigued.

"Your number, it's too long to say, so I thought I'd call you Jeffe to make it shorter."

The clone stared at Alice, stunned, before sighing, a smile on his face.

"Come on why not, I wonder what it's like to have a real name."

All the clones and androids hurried to gather all the supplies they could grab, spreading the loads so as to keep four people free, stationed respectively at the front and rear of the group in case an attack occurred on the way to the camp they'd just come from. The guards didn't have to do a thing, in fact: the journey was calm, as if the previous battle had never happened.

It was only once they had reached the camp, and their belongings had been deposited in a box in a tent, that Matricule 231 regrouped the survivors. He quickly summarized the situation with the commander, explaining that the squad would head for an outpost ahead of the front line, operating with the android members of the reconnaissance units. However, as their numbers had dwindled, six androids with at least one battle experience joined them. There were now fourteen androids and thirteen clones, in contrast to their original numbers of sixteen androids and clones. This made them a group of just over two squads. A testament to the high casualty rate of this war, which had only just begun.