Lieutenant Malikkas thrust his sweating thin body upwards, his head smashing against the overhead screen painfully as he screamed, the contorted expressions of the escaping prisoners fresh in his mind, their faces filled with fear and pain in a void darkness, briefly illuminated for his sight only, their last cries of terror echoing in his ears as their limbs were torn from their bodies by sharp snapping jaws and claws, each seeming to tauntingly demand why he had deserted them.
Dropping backwards as his insulated body shook with fright, his lips trembled as anaesthetic surged through his veins, the shadowed silhouette of a medic appearing above him as he stammered in high fever, ‘G-Get me a uniform and assault rifle…’
Adrenalin swept through his muscles, the taste of the suppressants on his lips as he fought the urge to close his dilated eyes, the medic shaking her head, ‘You are too weak…maybe in a few days…’
The pain surged back through his body, the medical bed damaged from the impact as another senior orderly tapped above on the screen frantically, his voice rising in alarm, ‘The patient will go into arrest…we have no other free beds…sedate him immediately! Nurse!’
The female orderly shook his shoulders, her face next to his jolting head as she shouted, ‘Stay calm…become strong, you can re-join the fight soon!’
Screaming filled the last remaining Blue Leopard’s ears, reality and dreams blurring as his mind withdrew into itself, flashes of gunfire mixed with the shouts of combat, mortally and pained wounded around him in the hospital merged agonisingly. His arm jerked as a syringe was abruptly thrust into it, high powered sedatives surging into his bloodstream as he shook once more, his muscles finally relaxing as the perspiring restraining female orderly began to loosen her grip, tears in her eyes as she stared down at the tanned Herrakian, her condemning voice vaguely comprehended, ‘He needs to go back to the front…he wants to die in battle, to re-join his comrades…he is lost mentally.’
Her sobs went unheard, the male orderly physically ushering her away as emergency technicians stepped forward to repair the bed, one looking down at the twitching figure, his expression grim, ‘He is tormented by the demons of those that have fallen…I saw it before on Zaxon A…the slaughterhouse. He will never come back…or he will become a soulless hero, killing many of the enemy if he is ever declared fit for combat…more likely mentally declared and sent back to an institution, he has seen too much.’
The Morgon commander stared at the rising smoke, indicating for the artillery battery to fire again as the officer approached, his black armoured helmet bowing before turning, shrieking orders to his crew, the soldiers thrusting new black shells into the breaches in response, glancing round in nervousness as a dusted armoured radio operator ran from the underground bunker, stiffening to attention before his somewhat arrogant commander.
The senior officer turned to stare at the subordinate, red piercing eyes scanning his muscled definition as a shriek rang out demanding the report, the operator bowing his head, ‘(Translation) Sir…the enemy has deployed battlefield shields…our artillery was ineffective…we will need to destroy their defensive measures before we can advance!’
The subordinate bowed his head further as the muzzles belched flame, further shells streaming towards the Trevakian shields, the commander shrieking in anger and frustration as he clenched his fists, sharpened blades emerging along his arms as he struck the operator hard in anger, the Morgon radio operator falling back into the grey snow in stunned subservience, her helmet lowering in dismay to see the deep white score and scratch marks across a prized black chest armour.
Chapter Twenty Eight: Morgon Reinforcements
Sam’s eyes flickered open, excruciating pain surging through his nerve endings, the remains of a human body twitching in agony as he gritted his teeth, tears of torment filling his eyes, the lids struggling to blink as the body struggled to rise from a brief slumber, hydraulics whirring where limbs had once been, his armoured skull turning slowly to look to either side.
Several other contorted machines lay on steel sloped beds across the seemingly shimmering room, the whimpers of others reaching his enhanced hearing, his still human chest shaking in morose defeat as he stared towards the flickering reflection opposite, a speaker above crackling as two other bodies struggled upwards, the excited voice twisted in salivating excitement, ‘The pain will go soon…we are nearly at our destination…your earth. You should be grateful for our eternal generosity.’
The Silakian scientist seemed to relish their pain, reading from the numerous displays before him, understanding all his subjects in numerous rooms were in chemical withdrawal, none receiving anaesthetic for their injuries and psychotic states during the lengthy travel through space. The brain patterns and scans had indicated many had suffered from delusions and hallucinations as the mild sedatives had seeped through their cabins, his morbid and deeply psychopathic study of their behaviour exciting him as he had meddled with the sedations, sometimes depriving the elite soldiers of sleep altogether and on other occasions forcing their tired and battered bodies into fitful slumber for lengthy periods. The warped human doctor had sometimes adjusted the tension of their armour, embracing further pain as individuals screamed and shook in agony afterwards, his small staff of rubber gowned jailers torturing their subjects for sport, reporting back to the merciless disinterested Morgon masters on efficiency savings of sleeping gas and chemical additions, explaining this would make the soldiers far more vicious in battle.
Consoling his twisted mind that he was punishing the contorted slaves for the lack of fighting on Zaxon B that was beyond their control, he had increased steroids and electrical charges through their muscles and frames in only the last few days, building the bodies up once more for an oncoming war of annihilation. He was convinced this
