This Forsaken World

This Forsaken World Chapter 3

This Forsaken World Chapter 3

Commander Devin Crowe

My opponent was the obvious leader of the U.E.D.F. Squad and he was fairly skilled in melee combat. Unfortunately for the man, his training was designed for maximum offense with little regard to defense. This was essential when fighting the infected zombies on Earth, human combatants were a bit different since they retained combat skills and higher brain functions.

Fleet personnel were taught a much different martial art made for possible boarding parties on there capital ships, designed for defense in close quarters as opposed to offense. We were taught how to use our enemies momentum and attacks against them in order to disable there capacity for combat.

The man was powerful, strong and very confident in his strikes. I wasn't surprised, for someone who fought day and night on the front lines of one of the most hostile and dangerous places on earth, he had to be skilled in order to survive. I however was trained since birth and despite low gravity in space, I worked hard to keep myself in top physical condition and my reflexes were honed to a sharp edge. Being a fighter pilot, it was essential to be able to adapt to any situation, think fast and respond accordingly. While soldiers on the wall could get to cover when things went bad, pilots didn't have that option. The only thing between us and death in a fiery explosion was a keen awareness of our surroundings and our ability to assess danger and react accordingly.

The fight was brief as I caught the soldiers leg during an attempted roundhouse kick. I shoved him backwards and swiped his leg so he landed hard on his back. Not giving him time to recover, I moved forward and threw a punch, attempting to knock him out. It took two hits which was a testament to his resilience, but he was out for the rest of the fight.

Standing up and looking around I surveyed the situation. Four of the pilots lay scattered about either on the ground of atop tables or benches. One of those victims was Raptor, who apparently had picked off more than he could chew. Counting the leader, roughly half of the U.E.D.F. Troopers were on the ground. Jewel was grappled in a cat fight with a blonde soldier and they were all but literally hissing at each other as they rolled around struggling to get position.

Sledge held two men in each arm and he was laughing heavily as he merely toyed with his prey, enjoying this fight just a little too much. Doom and Tombstone were squared off with a pair of troopers and they continued to throw jabs and hooks at each other with little to no effect, the sight rather pathetic to be honest. The last U.E.D.F. Was cornered by almost the entire bombing squadron and he was holding up his hands in surrender as they closed in on him.

Deciding things had escalated enough, I let out a shrill whistle to get everyone's attention. Instantly both squadrons snapped to attention, abandoning the fight. I noticed Sledge took a second longer than everyone else in order to knock out one more troopers before falling in.

For the U.E.D.F.'s side of things, the men and woman still standing gathered themselves up and regrouped near the door, waiting to see what was going to happen. I turned towards the troopers and gave them a well practiced glare.

"Gather your wounded and fall out. I'll call the MP's to escort you back to the surface. Consider yourselves lucky I'm not going to enact any disciplinary measures but I will be contacting your commanding officer with a full report. Dismissed."

Despite the fact I wasn't an officer in there branch of the military, they knew a command and a leader when they saw one and out of reflex and respect, they did as ordered and collected there downed comrades, either dragging them between each other or using a fire-mans carry.

Turning back to the assembled squadrons, I waited for the Troopers to leave before I broke down laughing. The pilots all sighed in relief that they weren't going to be dressed down and the entire bar was filled with laughter. "Alright, lets clean this place up, then leave is canceled and everyone is to return to there quarters for a good night of sleep, dismissed."