Two pulse laser turrets whirred to life. Both rotated to bring their cannons on line with the approaching creature, but the one closer to the east facing gate shuddered and ground to a halt with a metal on metal screech. Smoke rose up from the motor housing, giving probably cause to the failure.
The third and fourth turrets had no line of site, being on the southern and western walls. Jeremy watched as Marines were running to the barricades and falling into position, their rifles at the ready. Some still held their laser rifles but the heavy gunners in the fire teams had either plasma rifles or, in the case of Sergeant Whiskers, the Marine squad leader, a modified slug thrower.
Ever since they’d learned how resistant the native creatures were to the focused energy weapons many Marines had been trying to come up with alternatives. Grenades were popular, but finite. Ballistic weapons were the next best thing but they were in limited supply.
The lone unit opened up, letting loose a powerful hum that raised the hair on Jeremy’s arms as the capacitors charged and released at roughly one second intervals. The creature let loose a roar Jeremy suspected he’d be hearing in his right before he woke up in a cold sweat for the next several weeks. What amazed him was that it kept coming at them.
Pulse lasers possessed enough focused energy to burn a hole through a quarter inch steel plate with a single pulse. The creature was smoking from where the invisible beams struck it, but still it kept on. A preliminary study conducted by Dr. Rice — Synnamon — had shown the hair follicles of the beats they had encountered and some other smaller creatures that had been acquired for study were partially crystalline. The crystallization process was theorized to break up the energy weapons destructive power much like a military grade diffusion shielding, only the organic version seemed to work better.
“I thought the ultrasonics would keep these things away?” Synnamon cried as it closed to less than fifty yards of the turret.
“I think it just pissed this one off,” He replied. He backed away as it thundered on, fresh smoke coming as new pulses struck against it. “We need to go!”
Synnamon hesitated. They stared as the cross between a tyrannosaurus and a few other creatures he couldn’t place smashed one massive front limb into the turret and tore it off the raised dais it was on. The head lunged forward, powerful jaws crushing down on it and squashing the Marine trapped inside before he even knew what had happened. Or so Jeremy hoped, he didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to feel the teeth of a beast like that eating him alive.
The remains of the turret flew through the air, rolling and hopping along the ground past the gate. The creature swung its head, cold avian eyes sweeping across the compound and the people within it. Jeremy felt Synnamon grab his arm but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the monster.
“Godzilla,” Jeremy muttered, remembering the latest in a string of monster vid remakes that had originated on Earth.
“What?” Synnamon asked.
“Light it up Marines!” Sergeant Whiskers shouted, then led the charge by aiming down the barrel of the collector’s item he called a weapon. It was a Century Arms magnetic accelerator rifle. Jeremy had no idea what the specs were on it, but he’d heard Fiona talk about it once and she’d sounded like she admired it.
Godzilla, as Jeremy had dubbed it, roared again. Fresh tufts of fur or feathers or whatever it possessed burst free or burned up in puffs of smoke. Grenades rolled in or bounced off of it, detonating with either subsonic concussive effect or the intense kinetic energy of a incendiary blast. It smashed one of the pillars aside with an arm, then kicked in the physical layer of the wall that rose to a height of four feet.
“Run!” Jeremy said in a whisper. He felt almost afraid that speaking loudly would draw the monsters attention, ludicrous as it sounded. The explosions and sounds of men fighting and, occasionally, dying, was far louder than anything he could have done. He turned and grabbed Synnamon’s hand, then pulled her after him as he ran.
“Where are we going?” She yelled loud enough for him to hear her.
“Anywhere!” He said. “I don’t know, just not here!” Ahead of them others had the same idea, all of them civilians. Only Dr. Bronislav stood still as he watched the butchery unfold.
“There’s nothing that way but the ocean!” Dr. Rice said, yanking her arm out of his hand. “We can’t go that way, we’ll be trapped!”
He stopped beside her and looked back. For a moment his heart leapt into his throat. The creature had taken a step to the side and fallen. It rose up a moment later screaming in outrage. It wasn’t defeated, it had only tripped over one of the powered carts they used for excursions outside the outpost. Now the cart was crushed beyond repair and the goliath was limping, but that only seemed to make it more furious.
“Supplies!” Jeremy said, then he yanked Synnamon after him as he ran to the main building of the outpost. Behind them the beast roared again, adding an extra spring to their step.
“I don’t think we’ve got time!”
Jeremy glanced again and saw that it was moving again — and heading right towards them and the building he’d wanted to enter.
He hesitated a moment longer, cursing as the creature bore down on them. Synnamon yanked her wrist free of his hand then grabbed on to his arm and pulled at him. “Now! Come on!”
He let her pull him away.