Sparks flew onto the workers clothing, clashing of metal on metal filled the air. The once quiet planet was no longer peacefull.
It had taken one week, several thousand engineers, and tons upon tons of material, but the first colony was constructed. Hendrick stood, admiring the work they had accomplished. The colony would be able to hold thirty thousand people, not even near what they needed, but it was a start.
Static came in on his radio, drawing his attention, then the voice of the foreman, logan, "woa woa!! Stop!!" Hendrick looked to where he knew the foreman was working, and he almost laughed at the rookie driving the bridge layer.
A wide river seperating the clearing they had made for the U.S.C Hellrazor from the colony needed a bridge, and now the bridge layer was sitting in the river, Logan had tried to get the driver to stop when he noticed the ground giving way to the rapid flow of water, but it was too late, the ten ton vehicle tumbled into the freezing cold water; it was the only one they had.
"Just perfect, just fucking perfect." Hendrick muttered to himself, knowing all to well that this would set them back at least three days, probably more.
He noticed Logan jumping on to the bridge layer, someone was about to get reemed out. Thats when it began; Logan jumped back, tripped on a railing, and fell into the river. Men from every direction rushed to help, tools dropping into the dirt. They made it to the edge of the river when the heavy machine hit a rock, twisting sideways it began to tilt over, heading straight for the wide eyed Logan. Hendrick dove, grasping him by the arm and pulled as hard as he could, but it wasnt enough. The side of the layer rolled onto Logans chest, a sharp pain shot up Hendricks arm, causing him to screem out as the layer rolled across his forearm.
"Get a medkit Now!!" someone behind him screamed franticly, hands grabbed Hendrick, pulling him back from the grueseme sight on the river bank.
His arm quickly lost feeling, and he dared to look, immediatly wishing he hadnt. Broken, mangeled, bloody mess was all that remained, people scrambling to clean and bandage the wound.
"Colony site one to command, come in!" the nearest comm station was lighting up with traffic.
"Go ahead." the reply came a few seconds later.
"We need a medivac asap! we've got a severly injured worker." Things were quickly beggining to spiral out of control fast. "bring a body bag to, we have got a casualty"
"Roger, medivac on the way. What the hell happened?" The communications were interrupted by a young worker running up out of breathe, panting as he franticly told the comms officer what was wrong.
"killed...he was killed...were under attack!" gasping for air he managed to get it out.
"Did you say under attack colony one? What is happening down there?" Command sounded confused at the last transmission, from their scans and survey of Terra thirteen, the planet was empty of intelligent life. "Were sending down a security team, get everyone inside, i dont know whats going on but you better pray your wrong."
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"Last update was from colony site one, all we know is that they were attacked. I dont want any more accidents to happen today, remember your training, watch your lines of sight." Jon began briefing his troops, "Erickson, get to the workers, find out what they know, and radio me immediatly" Jon didnt want a soldier who couldnt get his belt done up in a potential fight. "Jenson, get on the FLIR, find any un-accounted for heat signatures."
"Sir!" the young woman who was so unsure before, wasted no time following his orders, she pulled out a small black pad, swiping her finger across the screen. A hologram of the planets surface appeared, relayed from the drop ships on board FLIR system. She began going to work, scanning the colony for anything unrecognized.
"Prepare for initial entry, this may be bumpy, we got a storm front directly in our path!" the Voice of the pilot came through sharp on the speakers.
Turbulence wasnt the word for what happened next. They broke the atmosphere of the planet without a problem, but as the small ship descended into the storm, all hell broke loose. The ship shook violently, the lights flickered rapidly.
"We've lost power! Brace for impact in 15!" The pilots terrified voice came from the cockpit, throwing everyone into a panic.
"Check your locator tags! Stay with the ship when we hit!" Jon yelled out. His heart pounded, time seemed to slow, he counted down the seconds to impact, knowing they could be the last seconds of his life.
The crash came, he felt himself being thrown against the restraints in his seat. The sharp pain against the back of his head came next, he could feel himself slipping into blackness, then nothing.
