"This guy is out of his ever-lovin' mind, Sarge!"

"This guy is out of his ever-lovin' mind, Sarge!" Sneadly's upper lip was nearly milk-white with condensed perspiration.

"Wipe yer lip, Private," Sergent Casket snapped, shifting his gaze from his private's quivering face to the horizon. The deep blacks and purples of midnight were slowly retreating, slowing giving ground to the smoky oranges and bloody reds of the steadily advancing dawn. Billows of inky smoke were still wafting up from the once-dead crater. "We're not gettin' paid to investigate or pass judgement tonight, just to keep our eyes peeled and to keep the Doc safe."

"Yea, but safe from what. That's the question-" quipped Masters, their sniper, his eye never leaving its assigned perch near his rifle's AN/PVS-11/D night scope.

"Don't matter," Casket replied, getting uncharacteristically nervous as he checked his watch for the fourth time in as many minutes. "No need to know."

Sneadly would not let sleeping dogs lie. "C'mon, Sarge. You mean to tell me you bought all that bunk in the briefing about "phaseo-dementia-"

"Phasadimensional, you idiot" Corporal Bradley sighed and shouldered his M240 with a grunt. The machine gun was a non-standard special build made especially for the seven-foot five heavy gunner. Based off the original design of the Marine's M122, Corporal Bradley's "BBG Blaster" weighed in at almost thirty-two pounds. The normally quiet gunner continued, pointing towards the bottom of the crater with his chiseled chin. "The briefing detailed the types of energies that they're testing down there. It could change everything about the war."

Sneadly continued, and Casket could have sworn that he heard the little rat's teeth chattering. "But they were talking about their readings. T...that there were things moving inside those energy waves...living things."

"Yea, yea. Angels, demons, aliens, whatever you wanna call 'em, Snivs. So what of it?" Master's dry voice nipped the Private's words short. "So long as they all play nice and lie down when we get to it-"

A hissing burst from the radio, ripping through the pre-dawn light. "Contact. Contact. Dear God! We have contact!"

The soldiers of Company Zero only had about six seconds to dive behind the recently constructed earthen embankments. Luckily, to the finely honed reflexes of these Army rangers, six seconds was right next door to eternity. So, when the massive explosion ripped apart the ground, the sky, and the fabric of all reality happened, none of them were killed.

As such, it was the men of Company Zero who were the first humans to see the thing that stepped forth...

Art Source: "Alien" (c)/by Roboworks
Story and Characters: (c)/by Brannon Hollingsworth

#MMWW, #Makes, #Me, #Wanna, #Write, #BrannonHollingsworth, #Army, #Rangers, #CompanyZero, #aliens, #demons, #angels, #phasadimensional