Constantine
Sgt Luis VonRektom
Dr. Balak
Kricket
Valentine
Dense foliage amid the throbbing bath of insect and wildlife sounds surround a squad of marines as they plough and hack their way though a dense jungle. The incessant bluish light from the alien star bakes the air high above, but the tall canopy above makes the temperatures on the ground just bearable enough for the group to turn off their eNVs.
Sarge, I think we’ve been here before.
Again?
Yeah, see those fallen trees with the large red flowers? We’ve passed them before.
Drip, drip, drop. The slight pitter patter of water drops can be heard as the condensation collects on the leaves, drops down, and hits Luis’ leathered face on its way down onto the jungle floor.
Kricket, what the hell is going on? Why are we going in circles?
The squad stops and Constantine readjusts his hold of the captured local,
I will put led in you if you try anything.
A rather highly augmented Marine with three antennas sticking out of his head stares at the readouts in front of him,
I swear it’s not me boss.
He taps on his visor,
And the gear checks out too. It’s this place. The magnetic fields here are throwing the navs off.
A rather large Marine with spectacles squeezing highly over her eyes looks at the squad leader and points up,
It’s Saryon. The fucking sun doesn’t move on this planet. There’s no clear way to tell which way’s which. Constantine, what does your girlfriend have to say?
All eyes turn on Constantine and his ward,
I don’t speak caveman and he’s not talking. I don’t think he understands anything I say to him.
Hey asshole, which way is your village.
v i l l a g e
Do you understand?
Where is your h o m e?
The local remains silent with a face full of hate as the soldiers grow visibly tense. Suddenly the burly Marine raises her rifle and moves up toward him to the alarm of the leader,
Valentine…
Bang! Valentine shoots the man in the arm and raises the barrel to his forehead,
That’s it, I’m tired of this shit. He’s been slowing us down and if he’s not going to help, he’s just baggage we don’t need.
Point us to your village of it’s goodnight motherfucker!
The man grabs his shoulder in a hopeless attempt to slow the flow of red blood as it squirts out. Then he looks at Valentine and points his bloody hand toward his left, screaming with vitriol through his silent eyes.
The marines start walking, while Constantine applies a med-patch to the local’s shoulder and pushes him forward.
Shadows and strange fauna play tricks on their senses as they follow the hesitant directions of their captive. By the time they get to the village, the whole squad is exhausted and on edge.
We’ve got a welcoming party. Valentine, show ‘em some leg. Maybe they’ll be nice.
She throws a jar, which the tech catches,
Nah, this is more of a crowd for your baby ass cheeks, Kricket.
He looks at the jar, the squad realizes it’s Vaseline, and they start to smirk.
Maybe finally you’ll get that action you’ve been asking for…
They all smirk and laugh, except Kricket who inspects the jar and is about to say something until..
Shut up and focus!
The Sergeant is starts to scan around with his rifle as villager appear out of their primitive huts,
Where is the professor?
He points at his uniform,
Where is our guy?
After a long silence an old woman walks forward and points at a tent towards the center of the village. The squad moves forward with rifles at the ready. Constantine maintains his grip on the captive and pushes through as the locals hiss and murmur.
As he passes the old woman, she loudly says,
Uma aktut ka ba khavana eed tu,
and laughs.
Her teeth are covered in a black oily substance, making the sounds coming out of her mouth almost detached from its strange pained twist. The words pass through Constantine like a wave of needles, until he almost lets go of the man in his grip. She continues to laugh as they move on towards the tent.
Geez guys. What a way to make an entrance,
Out of the tent a man appears. He’s wearing fatigues, but clearly is not a Marine.
Kricket whispers to his group,
A spook?
You’re Balak? What the fuck is going on here?
The sergeant barks at the covert officer, who half smirks.
Relax. You shit-wits took a long time. There aren’t even any brothels on the way to slow you down. I had to improvise and be extra “diplomatic” with these savages.
A young woman emerges out of the tent behind him and runs off crying, followed by an old man. The man’s hand is clinched into a fist, while his lips tremble ever so slightly with rage.
Here, I got your target.
He throws a fancy looking NAV to the sergeant, who passes it to Kricket,
This is some fancy shit, boss.
Good, I can’t wait to get our asses out of here.
The squad starts to move out in a hurry, when Constantine yells out,
What do you want me to do with him?
VonRektom looks back at Balak, who strokes his greying beard,
Hold onto him in case the professor here turns out not to be as persuasive as he thinks.
So what are we looking for doc? This looks like it’s down within a ravine or something.
Kricket’s voice betrays unease as he looks over the nav.
Again realx, it’s just an idol. You’ll know it when you see it. If it makes you feel better, we can rendezvous back here if shit goes bad. I sent this location up to command.
That doesn’t make me feel better at all.
The soldiers move out, back into the jungle. It isn’t long before the ground ahead splits open into a deep scar. The jagged edges are overgrown with thick vines that seems to choke and bleed the stone, forcing it into submission. The marines descend on their jump jets, burning through the foliage. As they descend, the leaves part way.
The dark bottom is wet and slick. The exoskeletons of the soldiers echo in the cliffs, but nothing stands in the way and progress is swift until,
Boss?!
What is that Balak?
In the middle of the dark passage a light steals its way through to the bottom, shining on a pile of rubble.
That? That is our prize sergeant.
Those are fucking skulls asshole!
The rubble, a pile of white round globes with sockets staring onto nothingness. Hundreds of human skulls, just thrown on top of each other. In the middle, seemingly floating above the mound is a strange statue. No more than a foot across. The carvings twist and wind into hard to understand directions. Constantine squeezes his eyes shut as looking at it makes his head dizzy.
Fuuuuck.
Constantine, get your girlfriend to grab that shit. I ain’t touching it.
Constantine opens his eyes, finds his bearings, and pushes the man he holding forward,
You’re going to have to grab that.
The man first resists, then moves forward, then, as soon as he’s out of Constantines grip, he springs forward and runs past the pile and away into the darkness.
Valentine shoots after him, but none of the rounds make contact. She looks at Constantine,
What the fuck man?
Fuck it. I’ll fucking do it. Don’t get your panties in a wad.
With the rifle at ready, Constantine inches forward. As he moves the air seems to resist his progress, but the servos on his armor push forward.
Boss, something’s weird here.
I didn’t realize you marines were such chumps. Just get it done.
The squad leader sight, grits his teeth and says,
Just get it over with Marine.
Constantine pushes forward as waves of force move through him and give way to his augmented strength. Slowly he reaches out, now grunting with exertion.
This shit ain’t riiiigh!
He gets closer and closer until now he has to strain and push with all his strength until there is nothing but what should be an easy task of picking up a small object. Something a child should be able to do, yet it takes this grown strong man his total focus to accomplish.
He doesn’t even hear himself yelling with effort as he closes the last few inches and…
…everything goes black.