Out of Space
Chapter 295: Eaters of Kin

"I'm feeling sick..." Hitsu whimpered as he laid flat on the grass. "You guys keep watch..."

"Hey!" Young jabbed Hitsu's side. "No slacking off!"

"This is that moment that Doctor likes to say right?" Hitsu sighed. "A sanity check moment..."

"I know its bad..." Young hissed. "But we need to keep tabs on them!"

"Hey Wolf," Hitsu poked the younger soldier on the side. "You alright?"

Wolf wiped the sides of his mouth after he vomited out the contents of his stomach. He swilled the contents of his water canteen and spat out on the side. "Damn, I lost all my appetite!"

Hitsu sighed and poked his head up and continued to observe the ongoings of the party in the camp. The barbecue party was in full swing with the members of the Pact grilling pieces of meat from trays and the grotesque meats being spit roasted slowly over the flames.

A couple of figures were slowly turning the body over the flames while another constantly applied some kind of sauce over the meat constantly.

"Damn... I feel sick..." Hitsu gagged as the smell of Wolf's vomit drifted over mixed with the aroma of the barbecue. "My head hurts..."

"Shhh!" Young suddenly whispered urgently. "Something is up!"

"What?" Hitsu and Wolf both jolted alertly and peered over the rise at the camp.

A group of figures armed with flaming brands had left the camp from quietly. "Looks like there roughly, a hundred men in that group!" Young commented.

The group marched with a purpose and headed straight towards the trio's hidden observation post. "Shit... did they discover us?" Hitsu whispered as he readied his weapon.

"No... they are heading towards our base!" Young hissed. "Call the base!"

"Outpost to Hotel!" Wolf hurried radioed back. "Outpost to Hotel! You got incoming ground forces! Do you copy?"

"Hotel, confirm hostiles approaching our location?" The radio replied.

"Outpost, estimated one zero zero tangos heading your way," Wolf peered over the rise to see the torching bearing mob passing their hidden post. "Intentions unknown! Over!"

"Hotel, roger that," Base replied. "Continue observation, Hotel out."

"SHhhh!" Young grabbed Wolf and pulled him down lower to the ground. "They spotted us! Turn off the radio!"

Wolf quickly turned the knob on his radio set, turning the volume off and laid still as footsteps could be heard approaching. Soon the glow of several torches lit the area around them as the members of the Pact walked over to investigate.

"Are you sure you heard something?" One of the Pact asked. "Or is it your stomach growling?"

"No! I am sure I heard someone talking here!" Another voice cried out. "I am certain someone is here!"

"But we don't see anything at all!" A third voice called out. "There's nothing here!"

"Spread out and search," The first voice spoke again. "Hurry up!"

Wolf gently eased his rifle butt to his shoulder and peeked out from under his ghillie suit. He saw two members of the Pact sweeping their flaming brands left and right as they tried to see their surroundings.

He lowered his breathing and stayed still as possible as the two walked closer and closer to their location.

"You see anything?" One of the men asked.

"Its darker than a witch's heart here!" The other commented as they stopped just a foot away from Wolf's position.

"Let's go!" The first man said. "Can't imagine anyone out here at this time."

"Wait, I need to go," The other man said while handing his torch over and he pulled down his pants. "Wait for me."

"Hurry it up," The other said. "The rest are waiting and we have some business to settle with the strangers!"

The smell of ammonia soon drifted up to Wolf who started to breathe through his mouth. Drops of urine splattered on to him and he kept still, ignoring the smell and the warm wet sensation.

"Done!" The man shooked himself and pulled his pants up. Suddenly he paused and double checked himself as he stared directly at the bush before him. Something about the bush felt wrong and he felt a tingle of danger emitting out from it.

"Hey..." The man waved for his buddy to come over. "There is something... str-!!?"

Wolf suddenly burst up from his prone position and rammed his bayonet directly into the heart while the other hand covered the mouth. Young at the side, leaped up almost simultaneously and grabbed the falling body to prevent it from hitting the ground and making any noise.

Together they dragged the body in and rolled it down the rise. "Shit, he spotted me..." Wolf whispered.

Young raised a hand to silence Wolf as they both waited for the other person's reaction.

"Hey? Ruism?" The man called out for his missing friend. "Where did you go?"

He peered into the darkness and swung both torches left and right, trying to replace his friend who had suddenly gone missing. Just as he was about to shout, a shadow pranced upon him and an eight inch blade slipped into his heart.

Hitsu grabbed the suddenly limp body before it hit the ground and gently laid it down on the grass. "Kill the lights!" He whispered urgently to Young and gestured in the darkness for Wolf to help him with the body.

Hitsu and Wolf carried the body and set it down next to the other body while Young doused the torches. "Shit, now what?" Wolf asked as he rinsed his arm where he got splashed with urine.

"I don't think they know anything yet!" Hitsu replied as he looked over the rise. "Yup, they are moving on. I think they missed them! I don't think they are able to keep track of everyone in such a big group and in the dark."

"We need to move the bodies somewhere and relocation," Young said. "Can't risk them replaceing us now especially with two of their dead with us and the blood would attract unwanted attention!"

"Well, at least, there are two lesser cannibals here," Wolf grinned as he helped carry one of the bodies away. "I wonder what they are up to..."

-----

Camp Hotel

"HALT!" The Marine sentry yelled out at the approaching torch wielding group. "What is your purpose here?"

"We are here to invite your Lords to our feast!" One of the torch wielding men stepped forward. "I am Samu, one of the Elders of the Pact."

"Wait here," The sentry said before he stepped back and radioed a report to the command vehicle.

Samu eyed the half dozen sentries visible under the glow of the torches and frowned at the defenses.

An earthen wall taller than a person had sprung up around the campsite and seemed to have been built with magic. At certain points of the wall, Samu could see the silhouette of a sentry standing watch illuminated by an unnatural glow that wasn't made by fire.

Silently, he cursed, wondering if he could succeed in luring these group of people out of their camp and into their trap. These strangers seemed to wield strong magic if they were able to construct a wall around their camp in less than a day! He has to be careful with them!

Not long later, the sentry spoke, "Sir, my Officer is on the way to speak with you."

Samu gave his friendliest smile and tried to make small talk with the guards, hoping to glean some information about their origins but to his fury, the guards ignored his questions and only responded by telling him to direct his questions to their officer.

Frustrated, he retreated back to his men and glowered at the guards, while mentally thinking of what recipes to use on them.

Rathia appeared at the main gate and waved away the salutes of the sentries. "You are looking for me?" He addressed the leader of the group.

"I am Samu, an Elder of the Pact!" Samu crossed his arms over his chest and bowed. "I like to extend an invitation to you and your men to join us for our feast!"

Rathia frowned, "Your messenger came earlier today and I have told him to inform your Messiah that we are thankful for the invitation but we have prior matters to attend to hence we could only thank your Messiah for his generous offer."

"Lord Rathia," Samu stepped forward and lowered his voice. "The truth is that the Messiah wishes to speak privately to you regarding the matters of the area here."

"If that is so, why the pretense?" Rathia folded his arms together. "Why all the secrecy?"

"As you have seen," Samu explained. "There are three other factions here not including the Pact. With the limited resources here, we have to ensure we are one step ahead of the others to ensure the survival of our people we have sworn to protect!"

"That sounds noble," Rathia's eyes narrowed. "But why should I listen to someone who eats the flesh of his own people?"

Samu stepped back in surprise but he quickly recovered. "Is it from that Oerkin? How could you trust the word of a slaver?"

"Well, so far all the Oerkins I know are quite honorable!" Rathia snapped. "And I have my sources, I don't need an Oerkin to tell me what I need to know!"

"You rather side with the Oerkins than with your own race?" Samu hissed in anger. "Traitors!"

"I would rather stand with the Oerkins than join you in cannibalism!" Rathia roared. "I give you a chance now to leave now!"

"TRAITORS!" Samu screamed, his bloodshot eyes bugling out. "SELFISH SCUMSSSS!"

The members of the Pact suddenly surged forward following the screams of their Elder, brandishing their flaming torches and crude weapons aggressively and chanted loudly, "WE EAT TO LIVE! LIVE TO BE EATEN!!"

Rathia stepped back while drawing his service revolver out, "Men! Make ready!"

"HAAARR!" The Marines roared aggressively back at the mob while shouldering their weapons.

For a moment both sides stared at each other in an intense standoff when suddenly an Oerkin appeared from within the Marines' camp.

"TRAITOR TO THE PEOPLE!" Samu screamed again when he saw the Oerkin appeared behind Rathia.

"You have sided with the Oerkins! YOU MUST DIE!"

The mob charged forward screaming for blood as Samu screamed for them to attack. "WE LIVE TO EAT!! LIVE TO BE EATEN!!!"

"FIREEE!" Rathia roared as the other side charged forward and almost instantly, he was nearly deafened by the thunderous barks of the Marines' rifles.

Flickers of muzzle flashes and bullet tracers stabbed out into the night at the frenzied mob and bodies fell. Rathia squeezed off his revolver almost point blank at Samu who toppled down to his knees with a surprised expression as he cupped his chest wound before he bled out.

Not a single member of the Pact retreated despite the devastating barrage of rifle fire. They screamed wildly and charged into the rifle fire and died where they fell.

"Cease fire! CEASE FIRE!" Rathia yelled and the gunfire died down to replaced with whimpers and cries of pain of the dying. "Check the bodies!"

"Your weapons... very powerful!" Turok, Chief of the Oerkins, said. "Much powerful than ours!"

Rathia glanced at the unfired hand cannon in Turok's hand and nodded. "Of course, it was after all one of our own traitor who made and sold that weak copy to you all."

Turok looked at his own firearm and sighed before sticking it back into his waistband. "With weapons as powerful as yours, the world is in your hands."

Turok crouched down next to the body of the Pact's Elder and closed the eyes. He whispered an Oerkin prayer for the Elder's soul before he stood up and faced Rathia.

"Your promise..." Turok asked seriously. "Will you truly honor it?"

"Of course," Rathia nodded. "You have my word and the word of a nation."

"We Oerkin are willing to serve your... United Nations, if you promised to save my people!"