A World Away

Prologue

Dear Captain,

It was late last month when I was first told about the CN railway, and the strange things people allegedly saw there, and when I heard it, I couldn't quite grasp the situation. I have recently been interviewing several TPC members in the hopes of finding out more and wish to share some of these accounts with you, in the hopes that we can help to combat this threat which has started to make its way through our ranks, draining the moral of so many.

I met 1st Lt Fulgrim Vice of the TPF two weeks ago. He told me that there had been strange occurrences along the CN rail connection, between stations C7 and N13, and that they were not alien in nature, nor were they human. I asked him if there were other survivors who could tell me more about this story, and so he handed me their names on a slip, and so, my investigation into the Crossbreed-railway began.

I had been stationed in the North since my deployment here in December 2164, watching over the local militia of the area to ensure their loyalty (2nd Northern Skywatch Battalion). Decimations used to be high in the unit due to their involvement at Midpoint, but following that, many in the unit have remained pacified, we even had one of the Midpoint survivors working as a weapons technician, although his psychological profile prevented him from serving until the invasion. I made my way to central with them when the Arachnids made planetfall, and following our routing, I fell back along this northern railway to the mining zone which stood next to the unit's base. It was here that we managed to regain our standing and hold the northern zone. If my sources are correct, all units inside the Central zone went dark within hours of the Arachnids landing, and that barely anyone survived in the zone; men, women, or children. The west zone has collapsed and been taken over by the Martian Factions, although given the state of the Aliens' advance, they will likely be overrun in the coming days. We have since been ordered to shoot anything that leaves the zone on site, even previously stationed TPF units.

From here, we attached several TPF units to the Southbound Expeditionary Force (codename: Echo) and sent them south along the railway to conduct search and destroy operations against the Martian factions, and to retrieve any weapons, Arachnid technology, or intel that they could. 1st Lt Vice was part of the 4th Rapid Response Squadron who reacted to a distress signal sent out by the 12th Pacification Group following their deployment at rail station C7. Vice told me that he was ordered to patrol the perimeter for any members of the 12th, while the bulk of the Squadron entered the station. He said that he found dead Arachnids, but that they had no gunshot wounds, only stabs and slashes on their plates, their blood still running warm. He told me that there must have been 5 at least, and that one was a commander. I still can't believe it now, I can't believe that not only had someone managed to kill an Arachnid patrol but that they had done it without firearms, and that they had so recently been killed before his arrival. I asked him if he thought that the 12th had managed to kill them, and he said he didn't. he told me he heard gunshots and shouting, like they were trying to kill a single thing, but just couldn't do it. He tried to head in and help, but he was ordered to stand down. Eventually, after the shouting and gunshots stopped, they circled the area in a gunship and confirmed that the entirety of the 12th, as well as the members of the 4th who entered had not survived. He left feeling dejected, he said, he told their bodies bled profusely, in the exact same way as the arachnids outside. They looked like slaughtered cattle in a field.

At present, we believe that there Is a rogue arachnid working like a robin in winter. However, others think there is a monster, one of the half-breeds of superstition, back when we thought they existed. I recall meeting a Banner Bearer, about nineteen years old, coming back with his hands cut off from the wrists, cauterised by whatever did it to him. He told me he hid when the Arachnids counter attacked his units, and he gripped the banner while he heard his men being massacred outside. He was found by what he described as a black construct, a sprite about six feet in height, covered in shards and scales and holding a blade which shone like Excalibur, who, and I quote "spoke like a man deranged, before shearing my hands off and burned them with his blade, and telling me to run". This account intrigued me, since it suggested that this entity may be human, and may be able to feel mercy, which is more than can be said for your officers, since the banner bearer was executed shortly after I reported his account to your subordinates.

Other accounts of this entity were substantially less sympathetic. One officer reported a "multi-armed miasmic being" which brought down a gunship. Another suggested that it was indeed a man, who murdered the patrol trying to bring him north. At this rate I am unsure of what to believe as to the nature of this entity, and you would be well within your right to dismiss my letter as just misplaced concern, but if the young Banner Bearer is to be believed, then there is something out there which is acting on its own volition, and seemingly holds no allegiance. Yet.

Our most recent account was a radio operator who claims to have heard it speak. This particular individual was receiving a distress signal from a downed gunship near N13 station, following another search and destroy operation against an arachnid patrol, which was dead when they arrived. The ship reported a shape among the dead aliens, which they immediately opened fire upon. The shape managed to kill the pilot with a rifle shot (this being understands and can use human weapons) and the gunships navigator was the only member of the crew to survive. He transmitted to my radio operator what had happened, and the being subsequently entered the craft and uttered an alien language (we believe) before switching off the transmission. A team has been sent to the crash site and I eagerly await their return.

I am requesting a formal investigation into these accounts, and a plan of action to combat this rogue. Some gunships have spotted some black sprite escorting survivors towards the north, and so I believe that if we find this being, with the promise of transporting survivors, it may just join us, and we can better understand our ordeal. Our current situation, while not dire, can change in an instant, and if this being can do nothing but kill, then we must take that risk and ensure that once it has made it way up the rail connection, we do not content with its motivations, or we will lose control of the only part of the city left under Terran rule. Please do not hesitate to contact me for more information on the topic.

Sincerely,

Martian Supervising Officer Kurt Helm.