Part 4

Third Contact: Disaster at Skywheel

Not exactly a zombie - a reworked human, brain reconditioned to act in the primitive ways of these aliens, a minor assimilation. They had proliferated during the Mars/Earth assault six years ago, but apparently some still remained.

Cale heard the whooshing sound from behind him, in the same direction as the previous hissing, and instinctively ducked.

Shock didn't.

The fire-spit-ball caught him in the upper back. Shock yelled with pain and jumped forward, falling onto the ground. Parson immediately rolled him over on his back, and Shock let out a bloodcurling scream and closed his eyes, trembling.

"What the hell was that?!" Strathers was exclaiming at the same time. Alan Shear and the others had turned and were firing bursts into the darkness where it had come from. An animal noise sounded and a trail of blood oozed out into the light.

One of the WarTech agents shone a light into the shadow, framing a brown, bipedal animal lying dead on the ground. Ivory spikes were coming out of its elbows, knees, and shoulders.

An "imp."

Something occured to Strathers at that moment, and he gasped.

"What?" Parson asked.

"We just - " Strathers began.

A leathery voice behind interrupted. "You jussssst killed him."

They others, caught off guard, jumped and whirled around, bringing their guns to bear on the source of the voice.

Another imp walked out from around a corner. He repeated "You jussssssst killed him."

"Huh?" Strathers said, shocked. "They talk? What - ?"

"We've had ssssssssix yearsssssss to learn your language," the imp said slowly, with much effort. "You killed one of oursssssssss, now you die."

"Hey," Parson snapped, bringing his gun to bear on the animal. "We were struck at first." He indicated the body of the zombie.

The imp glanced, then looked at him. "That issssssss nothing."

"He's dead!" one of the WarTech agents exclaimed. "Lagan's dead!"

"....And one of yours killed one of ours," Parson said. "The truce is off."

"We do not ..... ssssssurrender," hissed the imp. And he spat one of his fireballs onto his leathery hand just in time for Parson to pump its head full of bullets.

It wheezed to a quick death.

The station seemed to come alive around them.

From three different directions came deafening roars, made from the mouths of demons from Hell itself. Animal growlings came from all directions and numerous pairs of green and red eyes glared out at them from the darkness. Fireballs and bullets came at them.

The team backed into a circle around Lagan and fired at everything they could see. Cale got off repeated shots at a demon thing charging out of the shadows, as zombies dropped. He dodged an imp fireball and looked around for cover - but there was none.

The whole thing had just gone to hell in the space of an eyeblink.

And the aliens had been ready.

"You see?!" Strather was screaming between shots. "I told you this would happen! I told you they were never going to try and make peace!" he was cut off in midword as something green and electric flew out of the darkness at breakneck speed and caught him right in the chest. He dropped, spewing phlegm from his mouth and died.

"Shit!" Parson yelled. "Run for the center of the station! It's more fortified there!"

The team turned and ran, as demons and spectres charged out of the darkness around them. Cale grabbed Seth and leapt back out of the path of the huge, charging beats, and found himself staring directly into the undead face of a zombie.

Before it could bring its shotgun to bear, Cale had filled its face with lead. It dropped the shotgun and Seth grabbed it up.

"Come on!" Alan Shear waved at them from the doorway leading to the center of the station - but between them and Seth and Cale was a line of rampaging demons, imps, and zombies.

"Go!" Seth yelled. He fired into the line of monsters, dropped a few, as they raged all around and watched Parson's team disappear into the station proper.

Seth and Cale backed up.