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“Colony” Written by Michael Clark
Incoming transmission for: 01015380-Lt. Abraham Johnson
From: 00031247-Alpha02-Sgt. Dennis Hawkins- Field Report/Query //CLASSIFIED//INTEL
Life in the United Nations Space Forces wasn’t easy. Of course you know that. We needed physical training, combat training and comprehensive knowledge of the order of command. I’d say the absolute worst part of it all was the training they administered to help us prepare for the harsh conditions of space travel. Throwing up from accelerated velocity shifting, anti-gravity sessions and the repulsive food pastes they gave you were all-too-common in basic training for the UNSF. The only thing colder than space itself was the drill sergeants who could have just as easily been replaced by robots without anyone noticing a difference. However, nothing they taught us in basic training could have prepared anyone for that day.
It was supposed to be a standard patrol visit to Medusa VII, a small colony on a planet several star systems away from Earth. The colonists mine the planet for minerals and gases that are all but extinguished on Earth. Our job as the UNSF is usually just to arrive and restock the local security forces of the planet, and retrieve data reports. The data reports are typically only trivial things, like population statistics, funds, accident reports and food orders. Medusa VII is pretty much a barren wasteland of a planet, with no local wildlife or fauna.
When we entered the star system, we discovered there had been no communications with Medusa VII for almost two days. We geared up and prepared for the worst. Once we burst through the atmosphere, the docking tower on the colony still refused to acknowledge our hails.
We docked ourselves anyway, but the landing platforms were completely empty. We set a homing beacon on our ship and took out our weapons and started clearing the station room by room. Our forces were split into our two designated commando teams. The colony seemed to be deserted, but outside of the colony there wasn’t supposed to be anything noteworthy. There was no artificial oxygen except in some of the mines. We split up. I went to the City Hall with Alpha Squad, while Beta Squad went to the mines. Their final transmission was: “This is Beta Squad, we have eyes on possibile survivors.” We paid little attention, focusing mostly on our squad’s objectives first. We never heard from them again after that.. they’re still MIA to date. They did not make the rendezvous.
On our way to City Hall, we finally found our first signs of the colonists. Unfortunately, they weren’t good ones. The hallways leading to the main office were covered with the mangled bodies of colonists strewn about. They were lying against the walls like scattered beer cans. There were many other spots with congealed blood, but no corpses. In fact, there seemed to be more blood and gore than there were bodies.
With absolute radio silence, we continued on past the gruesome sights and arrived at City Hall to find more of the same horrors. I’ve been in combat zones before, but to see supposed innocents like this made my stomach turn. We finally arrived at the governor’s office who was in charge of the colony.
Sam Fyres was a hardened soldier, who had been in several galactic conflicts. But when he opened the door and received two bullets in the chest we could hardly believe it. Reznov, our Squad’s Captain, immediately chucked a flashbang through the door. We rushed inside. As we entered and disarmed the disoriented colonists, (many were wielding bats and lead pipes mind you,) we saw the governor’s decapitated body pinned against the wall. Unfortunately, most colonists were disarmed with physical force nonetheless. One didn’t drop the pistol they held fast enough, and was met with lead between the eyes. We tied them up, and I couldn’t help but notice all the shared facial expressions of horror through their masks and helmets. When I looked in the head of security detail’s eyes I saw, that he was no longer human. We were in a room filled with crazed monsters.
We extracted the civilians, and despite their claims of defense, the UNSF judge declared their murder charges inexcusable. There were only eight people left out of the original ninety-three colonists. Those eight survivors were dropped off at Harbinger, commonly known as Prison City. It’s a massive space station with only one goal: to contain the most violent and ruthless criminals for life. I’m sure you know of it by reputation, though.
Despite the justice that was served, many things still didn’t feel right. For one thing, the corpses we found in City Hall wasn’t the entire colony by far. There were still dozens of unaccounted for colonists. The prisoners claimed that they had become violent monsters, and that was one of the reasons why the governor was decapitated. There was no evidence to back this up. All of the security tapes had been erased, which was certainly suspicious. Despite that, I personally requested a science team to be sent to double check and perform autopsies on all of the corpses.
The second thing that bothered me was the disappearance of Beta Team. They simply vanished. Even when we revisited the site there were no traces of them. All four of them are still listed as M.I.A. Hopefully some more information will come out once the science and medical teams arrive. For now there is nothing I want to focus on less. Worrying and thinking about what-if scenarios doesn’t do the missing colonists of Medusa VII or my missing comrades any good.
In the meantime, I’ll be serving as 2nd Mate and Operations Officer aboard the luxury cruise liner Pytheas during it’s annual run of the Bars Among The Stars tour. My longtime friend and brother in arms Mikhail Reznov got me the job. It is unclear if I will return to active service, but until then, this will suffice as both work and time off.
Please send a message to my private terminal if you receive any updates from the forensic teams on Medusa VII. The transponder code is 11356-245. I appreciate any information you have to share while I’m away. Let me know how the kids are doing too.
-Regards, Dennis Hawkins, Alpha Squad 02
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK...💀
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