Doom - Evil Unleashed 0.5

The Beginning to the End – Part 5

We had been instructed, while aboard the troop transport. Our orders were to meet with the other squads at the Phobos Command Control Station, located at the center of the base in order to reestablish contact with Mars H.Q. We were to investigate the Hangar & Shipping installation, the Nuclear Testing Plant and the Toxin Refinery on our way to the Command Control Station. The squad leaders on the team were the only ones who had been on this base before, so we knew that we had to stick close to them.

The UAC had Atmosphere generators on both Mars and its moons, so this meant that the base areas had an earth-like atmosphere, which not only made it possible to breathe and move about near the base without a spacesuit, but it also made the temperature warm enough to survive. But it was still a bit chilly.

Corporal O'Brien, our squad leader, turned to me. "I've got orders to assign you to monitoring the sensor systems, Private"
I stared at him, hardly able to believe his words. He continued, indifferent to my expression of surprise. "We don't expect any resistance outside the base areas, so we don't see a reason to leave you with heavier weapons. They'll be of more use inside. If you do see unidentified movement on the screens, call us over the radio and we'll send you some backup"
Knowing that I was one of two elite troops in the security force, I was completely baffled by my orders to secure the perimeter instead of taking part in the action.
"Permission to speak freely Sir?" I asked puzzled.
"What is it?"
"Sir, you know that I'm better educated to deal with a potential enemy inside this base than any of those marines here. Why shouldn't I help the rest of the unit deal with any potential enemies inside, Sir?"
He gave me a long look O'Brien had been through my papers so he knew what unit I came from. He sighed. "Sorry soldier, Colonel's orders. I'd have preferred to have you with the rest of the squad, but I just can't ignore my orders"
"I understand, Sir!" I replied grimly.

I watched as the rest of the squad grabbed the weapons. There was quite a variety of arms available to us: From regular military shotguns to the newly developed high-tech plasma guns. I stared at my pistol, which was all I had to defend myself with. It had served me well before, but maybe this mission demanded something more powerful and if I found myself face to face with a dangerous enemy out here I wouldn't be in a good position.

"Stay frosty, soldier" The Corporal said addressed at me, before he turned to the rest of the squad.

"Adams, Lewis! Take point at the entry! Henderson, Moore! Cover the pointmen! The rest of you, secure the area!"

I listened to the Corporal barking orders, while I stared at the monitor in front of me. Nothing on the damn monitor. I swore horribly. Ever since I arrived on Mars I had been assigned to guard duties. I was sick of guard duties.

****

The pointmen peeked inside the guardhouse.
Empty.
The computer for recording a status on events had been smashed. It looked like some blunt object had been hammered into the screen. Private Lewis guessed that "someone" had smashed the computer with the butt of a rifle. "Someone must've been interested in whatever project the UAC had goin' here" Lewis whispered to his partner. "And they ain't interested in revealing who they are"
Other than the broken monitor there was no trace of combat. The second pointman, Adams, reported to the Corporal that the coast seemed clear.
The Corporal gave orders to move in and the marines went inside with their weapons in firing position, pointing their guns at all potential ambush locations.

The squad entered a hall, with the typical blue carpet, which could be seen in most UAC bases. This was probably, where High-ranking personnel were received. The light-brown walls were well cleaned, indicating that there had recently been an inspection here, and the floor had a pleasant feel under the marines' feet. There was no sight of people anywhere.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Corporal O'Brien assigned two-man teams to check the surrounding area, they soon returned, reporting that they had found nothing, neither survivors nor info. All computer monitors seemed either dead or were displaying nothing but snow and there simply wasn't any people anywhere inside the installation.

"Hmmm, odd" was all the Corporal had to say, but his face revealed a deep concern. He was frowning and had the look of a man carefully considering the possibilities of solutions to a mystery – like a detective. O'Brien had always been fond of detective novels and it affected his personality. It was therefore not surprising that the other marines often called him "Detective" instead of "Corporal".

"It's clear that we wont find any solutions here" He said. "On your feet! We're moving on to the Nuclear Testing Plant. I want you to stay close together, move out!"

The squad cautiously advanced further into the base.

****

I listened to the radio chatter of the squad. "Strange" I thought to myself. The squad had encountered no opposition yet, but the SOS call had requested reinforcements, which indicated that a battle or something like it had been going on up here. Seemed like we had arrived too late to assist the guards. Had the enemy left? What was their goal?
The whole situation seemed incredibly weird. Then I remembered that we knew absolutely nothing about what the UAC had going on the moons, so basically everything could have happened here.
I also wondered about Deimos. What had happened? Had they removed the moon? Seemed unlikely. How could someone 'remove' a whole moon with a base on it?

The monitor suddenly flickered aggressively, then returned to normal. It seemed that there was some sort of interference bothering our sensors. I called the Corporal up on the radio.
"Sir, I've got interference on the monitor"
The radio crackled as he replied. "How bad is it?"
"The screen was flickering for a moment, but it's fine now"
"Anything else?"
"No Sir"
"All right, it probably ain't anything serious, but call me up again if the sensors stop responding, you got that soldier?"
"Acknowledged!" The Corporal signed off.

I wondered what could have caused the interference. It had to be some very powerful source interfering with our equipment, as the military sensors were highly advanced and designed to withstand heavy interference in particular. I was beginning to get a bit worried.
I listened to the radio chatter of my buddies inside, while keeping an eye on the monitor.

The sensors told me that they were approaching the building's monorail station. The monorail would transport them to the Nuclear Testing Plant and normally it was primarily used for transportation of goods.

I could hear a few of my buddies whisper to each other. They clearly didn't like the situation.
I had to admit that it all seemed tremendously spooky.

One of the boys suddenly brought news over the radio in a muffled voice.
"Corporal, we've found a body!"

...

Very good dsm, keep up the good work.

I'm glad that someone reads my stories.
I will keep up the work :-)