Armageddon

Grace Period (4)

For roughly 2 weeks, enemies didn't attacked, almost as if it was giving the colonists time to bury their dead. When the battle did stop before at the beginning of the so called 'grace period,' The team walked into the neighboring colony. The dead were countless. many parts of the colony base was torn up, the only thing keeping everyone safe was the outer shield. All was silent and still, like the tomb this colony became. All of Spirit took of their helmets, in respect for the fallen. They scoured the ruins and piled the bodies. In the end, the count was 1,458. Only one colony of the 24 that were assailed, 3 of which were major sites, causing a total of 1,452,989. Citizens were allowed to walk around and reunite with their separated members during the evacuation... and visited their departed. The sorrow that followed was never seen before. Even Melissa's painful memory of the Colony Ship Massacre was surpassed.

The team continued to search, not knowing what to find, they wanted to find what they really needed: hope. But they found something a bit better. While searching  Wyatt heard a creaking in the corner, a sharp creak, under a titanium plate. He lifted his rifle, and called over the team to help hoist the part up.

Underneath, a clanking machine, with a glowing red circle embedded in its head. It was blinking on and off, almost as if it was just hanging on the edge of life. It was missing a hand, an arm, and both of its legs. Twitching, It repeated the same thing.

"System Malfunction." "System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction.""System Malfunction."

Wyatt pointed its rifle at it, about to pull the trigger, when Emily kicked it out of his hand.

"Don't kill it, you ignorant imbecile!" She yelled, staring him dead in his brown eyes, "We can experiment on it! Find a weakness, maybe save billions!"

Wyatt picked up his rifle, and put it on its holster on his back.

They dragged it into Emily's laboratory quarters, all the while repeating its line, "System Malfunction." 

Spirit, all but Emily, left the room, letting her work. The team sat on a bench, patrolled the ground trying to help any citizen they could.

 Melissa walked up to a woman who was crying on the ground.

"Hi," she said, her beautiful blue eyes glistening, "Whats wrong? Do you need help?"

She continued to weep harder.

"What's your name," She asked kindly, hoping to get an answer.

The woman looked up.

Melissa started to tear up. In the woman's arms, a young boy, no more than 5, rested in her arms, blood streaming from the left side of his hairline.

"Help... Please," She said, "I-- I don't know what to-- I-"

Melissa took off her gauntlets, and felt the boy's pulse. Nothing. Devoid of warmth. She cried holding the woman. She felt her pain, losing a member of her family. Carter walked by, and saw the event that took place. He lifted the two up. He took the woman and was kind to her, but he explained that he would personally get revenge for her loss. She hugged him. She took her deceased son, and brushed his brown locks back, and kissed his forehead, Carter took the child and carried him to the pile. Melissa followed.

He turned around, facing her, the tears in her eyes, she looked up and hugged him tightly. She wailed in his shoulder, gasping for air. He held her for 5 minutes until she ceased her sobbing. 

"Everything will be fine." He said, reassuringly.

She nodded slowly, tears still within eyes. He raised up her chin, looking in her eyes. A single tear streamed down her cheek. She gazed at his brown eyes. She pressed her lips against his for a half second, and walked away, still broken, but somewhat mended.

Eventually they all ended back up in the laboratory, ready to hear Emily's thoughts.Melissa walked slowly behind Carter, her hand on her arm. At the entrance he stopped and let her in first. She looked up and walked in, standing up straight, trying to seem more official, less shattered.

Emily looked frightened. More than usual. Her eyes appeared to be wide with fear.

"I found out a few things, some good, mostly... terrifying."

Carter looked at her and nodded, "Go ahead."

"Well," She started, not very pleased with her info, "This isn't a species. It's machinery of course. They might have billions in numbers, but they have roughly 1,000 controllers. Kind of like an army, with one general, but the general can control its forces via telemetry waves. They have these little micro-organic chips. But every general is controlled by another being, all the way up to the highest organism, which from this things brain, its a hulking god the size of a moon, who controls it all, like a twisted genocidal government."

The team looked at her as if they saw a ghost walk by.

"But there is good news. They have a weakness. Any electromagnetic stimulation to their chip, right behind their red visor, would disconnect them from their specific general, losing their memory, and killing them. Wyatt, give me your rifle."

"Okay?" He handed his gun over.

She took a laser cutter and dismantled it. He looked at her with anger.

"My rifle!"

"Yes, your rifle that doesn't work!"

She opened a storage closet and handed him a weird shaped gun. It had a dish with a long firm antennae in the center. Everything else was the same to that of the standard-issue rifle.

"Well," Emily began as she handed some more to the rest of the team new weapons, "if you pull the trigger it discharges an EMP. It will disconnect these things from their general. Permanently. Also, it can fry your brain so, don't screw around like its a dart gun."

They all left, giving new tech to marines and other squads. They found a bit of hope. Finally, After all the death, the pain, the anguish, something good finally happens. Still mourning was taking root. Numbers were cut by -tenths. More tears were shed than ever before, more pain was felt than thought possible. But this was not the end, and it would only get worse.