Intergalactic conquest with an AI

He gently touched the man's shoulder.

That was when the body suddenly slumped forward and collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The way it fell was heavy and limp... sending a chill crawling down Soldier 593's spine.

"What the fuck... sir?" he gasped, his heart racing as he dropped to one knee beside the body. He quickly activated the helmet light, its beam cutting through the early dawn gloom and shining onto the soldier's head.

And that's when he saw it...

There was no face..

Nothing.

Just a mangled, bloody hole where the face should have been, the skin and flesh torn away completely, as if something had chewed it off or ripped it out from the inside.

Blood had dried around the edges, mixing with dirt and leaves. The soldier's helmet was still loosely hanging around his neck, cracked and broken as if it had been torn off violently.

The rookie stumbled back in pure horror, almost falling onto his hands.

"By the Lady in white...." he muttered under his breath, trying to keep himself from screaming. "What the hell... who the hell did this?"

Suddenly, a sharp snapping of twigs came from behind him.

The infected were coming.

And now, he knew that whatever was chasing them wasn't just some mindless horde. It was something far worse.

Something that could rip a man's face off.

Without wasting another second, Soldier 593 pushed himself back onto his feet and ran like his life depended on it... because it did.

[Field Footage – Soldier 593 / 6:55 a.m.]

But it wasn't until several more exhausting minutes of running through the dark, muddy forest trail that Soldier 593 finally found the last of his squamates.

The soldier was slumped against the base of a twisted old tree, his body pale and still. One of his legs was gone or more like it was ripped off or blasted away, while a trail of blood marked the spot where he had crawled for safety.

"Sir! Are you okay?!" Soldier 593 cried out, dropping to his knees beside the wounded veteran, his voice trembling with panic and concern.

At the sound of the rookie's voice, the veteran slowly lifted his head. His eyes looked heavy, distant, and tired.

"Hah… who would've thought... that you'd be the last one of us still standing...." he murmured with a dry, humorless chuckle. His voice was raspy and weak... clearly, he had already lost a dangerous amount of blood, and the life was draining out of him with every second.

"Don't talk like that! Save your strength! I'll get you out of here!" Soldier 593 said desperately. "Put your arm around my shoulders; I'll carry you the rest of the way!"

He moved in closer, ready to lift the wounded soldier. But then he felt something lightly jab into his leg. He looked down and realized that the vet had just injected him with a stim syringe.

"It's pointless, Rookie…" the veteran said while breathing heavily. "I won't make it. I already know that. But you... you still have a chance. A real one. So you better take it. I just gave you my last stim shot. That's everything I've got left…"

Soldier 593 stood frozen, his mouth dry. His body trembled from a mix of exhaustion and dread.

The veteran slowly took off his cracked, bloodied helmet, revealing a pale, sweaty face and sunken eyes. "And just one last warning, kid... that thing... the creature that wiped out everyone at the outpost... it's here. Somewhere close."

"What?! That thing?! You mean… the reason why the other soldier was missing his face… that was it?" Soldier 593 asked, his voice shaking as he took a small step back.

"Yeah… that was its work. Tore his damn face right off. And let me tell you something…" The veteran coughed, blood staining the corner of his mouth. "That thing... it's one ugly motherfucker. Not something you ever wanna meet face to face."

The veteran gave a weak smirk and pulled the dog tag from around his neck. "Here… take this. When you get to the Kaelzar outpost, give it to an officer. They'll know how to get it back to my boy back home. Tell him his old man went out fighting."

Soldier 593 took the dog tag, clenching it tightly in his hand. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to leave this man behind. But before he could say another word, the veteran gave him a shove with the last of his strength.

"Now go!" he shouted, his voice breaking into a pained growl. "Run, Rookie! Don't stop! Keep going and live!"

With tears in his eyes and a heavy heart, Soldier 593 turned and ran into the darkness once more. Every breath burned in his lungs, every step sent pain through his legs, but he didn't stop.

Minutes passed like hours. Then, from the distance behind him, he heard it again... that chilling sound.

The eerie, unnatural wail of a baby crying echoed faintly through the forest, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. A second later, the crack of a single gunshot rang out. Then came the sound of a grenade detonating, followed by silence.

Soldier 593 didn't look back.

He just ran.

[Field Footage – Soldier 5499 / 6:59 a.m.]

The footage on Cleo and Rex's screen shifted again, this time switching to the final recording from the helmet of Soldier 5499, the last comrade Soldier 593 had seen before making his escape.

In the footage, Soldier 5499 was still sitting motionless at the base of the tree where he'd made his final stand. His body looked completely drained, but his grip on his sidearm was firm, and a pin had been pulled from a grenade now clenched firmly between his teeth.

From the audio, faint rustling could be heard of something large that was moving stealthily through the thick bushes nearby, each step accompanied by a low, wet crunch, like something crawling just beneath the skin of the earth.

With a tired smirk on his bloodied face, Soldier 5499 muttered, "Heh... so you came back, you ugly bastard... I was hoping you would."

He adjusted the angle of his handgun, carefully aiming it at the grenade now resting between his teeth. Though the camera couldn't see what he was looking at, his eyes locked onto something just outside the view... something that was slowly, deliberately approaching him.

Then, raising his middle finger defiantly toward the unseen creature, he gave it one last insult, "Go fuck yourself."

In that final moment, a monstrous shadow lunged toward him; it was too fast and too large to be fully captured by the camera. But before it could reach him, a loud gunshot echoed, triggering the grenade.

A brilliant white flash filled the screen, followed by the roar of an explosion and then, silence. The recording from Soldier 5499 ended there.

[Field Footage – Soldier 593 / 7:05 a.m.]

The next video resumed from Soldier 593's helmet cam, now shaky and blurred from his frantic sprint through the dense forest. The sky was starting to lighten, but the sun had not yet fully risen. The shadows between the trees were still long and black, hiding whatever horror might have been pursuing him.

The rookie's breaths were loud and uneven, echoing through the helmet's microphone. His legs barely obeyed him anymore, muscles screaming with each step.

Behind him, the sound of crashing branches and heavy footsteps followed; something enormous was chasing him, but not in a hurry. It was stalking him, pacing its hunt like a predator toying with its prey.

And mixed in with that distant sound… the moaning and snarls of the infected, closing in fast.

Panic had fully overtaken reason now.

But then... through the blur of fear and tears in his eyes, he saw it.

Far ahead in the distance, bright golden lights pierced the foggy darkness of the forest. Tall, disciplined figures moved in synchronized patterns. The unmistakable patrol lights of the Kaelzar forces. It was like seeing angels descend from heaven.

"Help! HEY! HELP! OVER HERE!" Soldier 593 screamed as loud as his lungs would allow, waving his arms frantically while stumbling toward the light. He didn't stop running. He couldn't. His life depended on it.

Then, one of the tall figures broke from the formation; it was a massive unit clad in thick armor, easily distinguishable by the massive crest on his chest. A Tyrant-class Unit.

"He saw me!" Soldier 593 cried with joy. "YES! YES! HE SAW ME!"

But in the very next heartbeat, everything changed.

A sharp pain exploded through his chest. His entire body went cold. The ground beneath his feet vanished. The world seemed to tilt.

Looking down in confusion, Soldier 593 saw something long, thick, and black protruding from his chest. It shimmered unnaturally, like wet obsidian. Blood poured down around it.

"W-what...?" he gasped, his voice trembling. His legs gave out.

Just then, the Tyrant soldier reached him while leaping through the air in an arc that no normal human could make. He landed beside Soldier 593, drawing an enormous two-handed sword from his back, the blade crackling with energy.

The camera, now lying sideways on the ground, caught flashes of a brutal battle. The Tyrant was engaging a towering creature that dwarfed even him; whatever had pierced 593's chest wasn't just fast, it was massive.

Gunfire erupted. Plasma blasts lit up the forest as the rest of the Kaelzar patrol opened fire. Then, through the carnage and destruction, that same eerie, unnatural sound filled the air again.

The sound of a baby crying.

Soldier 593 lay there, his vision fading, his helmet cam still fixed on the lightening sky. A single yellow sun was beginning to rise over the bleak necrotech world. The rays bathed the treetops in a dim golden hue.

A slow, pained smile crept onto his face.

"So... there you are..." he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Took you long enough…"

The camera continued recording the dawn... until the feed finally cut to black.