Return of the THeX: Meet the Family

“Medic!” shouted a startled and confused Private Johans as he bashed the elongated reptilian head of what used to be a little girl with the butt of his lasgun.  The child’s broken body twitched a death spasm before relinquishing it’s pathetic mutant life.  Beeson, the platoon medic, stood in the doorway of the small ferrocrete apartment as Johans poked at the creature with his lasgun, “Lil’ bitch just bit me.”

“So, what do you want me to do about it?” said Beeson as he shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re the medic, right?”

“In that I carry bandages and burn cream, yes.  Which would you like?”

“You’re fuckin kiddin me right?” Johans could tell from the unsympathetic stare that he was not.  “Fuck… Bandage, I guess.  Do you think it was poisonous?”  He wrapped the bandage around his left forearm.

Beeson started, “Well, you’re still ….,” but he was interrupted by an unnerving wail that could only be the sound a mother makes when her baby breaks. 

“Minesss… baby…,” a women, or at least what used to be a women, appeared in the doorway at the back of the room.  Her legs were fused together into a serpentine like lower appendage with a patch of folded skin several inches below her belly button.  Her scaly breasts shimmered in the flickering light as her forked tongue darted in and out of her mouth.  Her black glassy eyes turned toward the ceiling as she spoke again, “Father… I won’t dissssappoint, againssss.”

Beeson had started to back away but Johans was inexplicably transfixed by the allure of the abomination. “Joh,” Beeson beckoned, “get back.”

The abomination spoke again as she slithered forward which caused her hips to undulated slowly forward then backward, “You killed minesss baby.  Father inssssistsssss that I have minesss own,” she began to stroke her finger along the patch of folded skin in the middle of her serpentine appendage.  Johans eyes were drawn toward the graceful motion of the finger and the dewy patch of folded skin.  “Joh, issss that your name?  Ssssuch a pretty name and sssso ssssstrong… Father callssss me Beautiful.   Do you agree?”

“Joh, get down or I’ll shoot you too,” yelled Beeson as he trained his lasgun on the creature who now stood directly in front of Johans.

“Joh,” it seethed as she put her arms over Johans shoulders and her forked tongue teased his lips, “I am going to need your ssseed.”  Johans looked down to see a three fingered razor sharp claw spring out from the folded patch of skin and grab then slice his testes from his body.  Johans screamed out in terrible pain as the claw retracted just as quickly as it appeared along with his precious stones.  Johans tried to fall to the ground but the creature held him up as if he were a shield.

“What the fuck…  What the fuck.... What THE FUCK!!! ” Beeson fired wildly.  The creature headed straight for Beeson.  Beeson panicked and tripped over a bit of rubble as he back peddled.  Before he knew it the creature had tossed Johans to the side and was on top of him.  He was pinned under her unnatural strength. Her forked tongue caressed his warm cheek and her big black doe like black eyes studied his terrified expression.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle,”  a broad smile stretched across her face while Beeson’s screams vainly echoed down the empty hallway.

*****

                “Where’s Beeson?” Sergeant Gannon said as he cut part of his head scarf off and wrapped it around his singed hand. “I could really use some of that burn cream.”

                “I don’t know. I remember him going to check on someone back at apartment block 6. I didn’t see him come out,” said Private Soizey as he fiddled with the knobs on his vox.  “Anyone seen Beeson?” The rest of the squad shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders as they crouched and crawled through the ruined building. 

                “Get me Lt. Ulricht,” ordered Gannon.  Soizey fiddled with knobs for a few more seconds until he had the signal and turned it over to Sergeant Gannon.  “Command, this is 5-2 we are at the rendezvous point.   The search didn’t turn up anything but dead bodies and shattered buildings.  What ever happened here is long over and everyone has bugged out.”

                “Report received.  It looks like the …. our end.  Do … have a visual … platform?” the vox squawked Lt. Ulricht’s broken transmission.

                “You’re breaking up,” Gannon darted a piercing glance at Soizey.  Soizey fiddled with the knobs some more but nothing seemed to change.  Gannon continued, “yes, and there is nothing to report, its all clear.”

                “The T-47’s … hold … arrival,” Lt. Ulricht’s voice was barely audible.

                “Repeat the order,” Gannon said as he smacked the hat off of Soizey’s head.  Soizey shook his head as he franticly fiddled with the knobs and buttons.  The vox remained nothing but static so Soizey did the only thing he could think of and slammed his fist into the display readout.  The static dispersed and the power remained on.  Gannon and Soizey looked puzzled.

                “That’s never happened before,” Soizey began when he was interrupted.

                “Off worlders,” a voice on the vox rang out clear as though the person was standing in the ruin with them, “welcome to our home.  This is the great Father here to welcome you to the family.  Your scent is quite delicious.  We rarely get visitors such as your selves.”  The voice was soft but firm.  It had an elegant charm that soothed the spirit as it excited the senses.  “I know that you were looking forward to leaving but I cannot allow that.  I have been told that you will make wonderful additions to the family.  Your seed is strong and pure.  Your wombs are warm and fertile.  We look forward to meeting you soon.”  The transmission ended and the static returned.

                “They must be jamming our signal somehow,” Soizey said, happy that the vox problem wasn’t his fault.

                “Sarge, we’ve got movement by the platform,” said Private Moonves, “enemy unknown.”  The squad took defensive positions around points of entry into the ruin.

Gannon moved closer and took out his monocular.  He studied their movements closely and came to a conclusion.  “They are patrolling around the platform.  They don’t know where we are but they know where we are headed.  Set up the heavy bolter on the south corner.  Tell the autocannons to get up stairs and keep an eye out for anybody approaching.”

After a half hour the autocannon spotters began sending down reports the arrival of friend and foe.  Lt. Ulricht was the last to arrive.  The platoon lieutenants, Lt. Ulricht, and Sergeant Gannon convened to discuss the situation. “We ran into a spot of trouble back by Apartment block 6,” Lt. Ulricht explained, “A bunch of filthy little mutant children,” she grabbed the hilt of her power sword, “they weren’t a real problem. There were just so many to cleave through.  Gannon, what’s the situation?”

“Mutants seem to be the best way to describe them.  Most of them have multiple appendages, scales, or chitin shells.  They are either carrying no weapons or they have the equipment of the emperor’s blessing.  There are a bunch them clustered around and under the landing platform.” 

                “We need to get them away from the platform.  The T-47’s are due for arrival at any time.  We need to move quick and get these freaks out of here.  Lt. Vicks’ squad, 7-1, and I will lead a flank attack to draw some of them away from the platform.  Lt. Cragg will lead the main assault with the rest of the force from this ruin when we have drawn enough of the mutants away from the platform.  See you on the T-47’s.”

                The squads broke and took up their attack positions.  Sergeant Gannon started to hear the faint sounds of battle off in the distance.  He watched through his monocular as some of the creatures began to peel off the main cluster to address Lt. Ulricht’s flank attack.  Gannon swung the monocular back to the platform and could see a group of the mutants wandering aimlessly in the general direction of their position but it didn’t worry him much.  He scanned the crowd under the platform and saw a well-dressed man in a high collared purple cloak.  The others seemed to swoon in his presence.  “Sir, I think I see the Father?”

                “Fire,” barked Lt. Cragg.  Gannon was surprised that Lt. Cragg gave the order so abruptly as to reveal their position.  The entire ruin illuminated with the bursts of lasfire, echoed with the roar of heavy bolters, the shook with the thumping of the autocannons.  Gannon watched in surprise as only a handful of the wandering mutants were cut down by the impressive volume of fire.  Those that remained fell back to cower under the purple cloak of Father. 

                “They’ve fallen back to under the platform, sir,” Gannon informed Lt. Cragg. 

                “Good, that’ll make them think twice about coming out again,” confidently replied Lt. Cragg.  Gannon watched intently for signs of success of the flank attack but was surprised when he saw some of creatures falling back toward the platform.

                “Sir, we should move now.  They are falling back from the flank attack and rallying at the platform,” Gannon advised while still monitoring the situation. 

                “Soon, Sergeant, soon, the time is not right.  Why have the autocannons and heavy bolters stopped.  Fire damn it!” 

                “Fire at what, sir?” Gannon asked. 

                “Them of course.  Fire, now.”  Bolts and shells alike pounded the ground, landing platform, and supports.  One of the mutants was crushed by a falling piece of ferrocrete that fell from one of the supports but the rest of the creatures were immune to the fire.

The minutes that passed seemed an eternity to Gannon as he watched more of the mutants fall back toward Father.  It seemed that the closer that they got to the Father the more resolute and determined they seemed to fight.  Gannon watched as Lt. Vicks’ squad emerged from behind a ruined wall just about 50 meters from the platform only to be met with a spray of a thick mucus liquid from the wide open mouths of a group of mutants.  Lt. Vicks was hit by the worst of it as the exposed skin on his face slid off and pooled on the ground.  Vicks fell but still writhed on the ground. “Sir, we really should get going.  The T-47’s can’t be far off.”

                “Wait for it.  Wait for it.”

                Gannon watched as a spout of flames emerged from behind the wall and finished off the mutants that took out Lt. Vicks’ squad.   Bursts of frag grenades exploded under the platform and caused blood to erupt from the missing limbs and punctured flesh.  “Sir!”  Lt. Cragg continued to survey the field.  Gannon saw Lt. Ulricht emerge from behind the ruined wall.  She turned toward their position and raised her hands in the air and pointed toward the platform with her glowing power sword.  “Sir!  I believe Lt. Ulricht wants your attention.”

                “Attack!” shouted Lt. Cragg.  The remainder of the THeX poured out of the ruins.  The mutants let loose with seering shots of lasfire that was hotter than Gannon had ever felt as it whizzed by but even more surprised that only a few men fell.  The THeX poured their fire at the mutants that hid under the platform.  Body parts, both essential and superfluous, were severed from their bodies as mutant after mutant fell to the withering fire.  Gannon leveled his laspistol and had a clean shot at Father. He pulled the trigger and watched as his shot hit a four eyed serpentine child that slithered in front of Father as sacrifice.  Its head blossomed into a bouquet of crimson mist and flaming sinew.  “Stop,” shouted Lt. Cragg, “Fire the heavy bolters!”

                Lt. Ulricht lopped off the left head of one of the mutants and put a plasma hole in another then turned toward Lt. Cragg.  Gannon heard, even over the roar of the heavy bolters, Lt. Ulricht as her voice thundered through the bloody murder that was being delivered, “Cragg, get your ass moving, now!”

                Gannon shouted furiously, “Glory to the THeX, Glory to the Emperor! Charge!” His chainsword roared and rumbled unlike anything he had felt before as he swung it above his head; only he did not remember turning it on.  He glanced up to confirm with his eyes what his ears had told him.  He saw the T-47’s fly overhead, bank around and make another pass, then fly away and out of sight. 

The whole company was stunned.  Lt. Ulricht ordered the company to fall back to the ruins.  The autocannons mangled the mutants that tried to rundown the retreat.  The stunned silence was broken by the groans and screams of the wounded they weren’t able to retrieve. The shroud of night fell and brought with it veiled shadows that appeared then disappeared as each dragged off one of the screaming wounded left on the field.  Lt. Ulricht tried to establish contact with the regiment still in orbit but the vox transmissions were still blocked.  Just as the last shred of hope for the return of the T-47’s was extinguished all of the company’s voxes turned on and static cleared.  Father’s warm, loving voice boomed, “Welcome to the family.”