Wilde Eselin

[wildeeselin]

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Name = Christian Engle
Rank = Leutnant
Age = 26
Height = 6 2
Hair color = Blonde
Eye color = Blue
Origin = Planet Stuttgart

Background = No criminal record. Survived by mother Emily, father Varick killed in Nomad War. Family owned Avocado farm on Stuttgart, later sold to Synth Foods under suspicious circumstances. Recruited into the Hessian Tears after loss of family farm.

Current Information = Last known location is Stuttgart System. As strike force squadron leader, his mission was to eliminate a possible Nomad base on one of the volcanic islands on Planet Baden Baden. All contact with squadron was lost. Leutnant Engle is listed as unconfirmed KIA.

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CHAPTER ONE

Above the planet, the radioactive remains of the Hessian forces floated in the empty silence. Far below, the remaining Odin Fighter fell into the planets atmosphere, its hull plating glowing red and blue as the nose began to fray apart. Though heavily damaged, the ships computer maintained a constant course as the acceleration increased.

Turbulence coming, chimed the computer as the ship plunged deeper into the atmosphere, the ship shaking uncontrollably.

The instrument panel let out a ping.

Active scanning, said Hessian Lieutenant Christian Engel. Were being tracked, computer, do you have a source?

Wilde fighters 30 klicks and closing, chimed the computer.

Christian banked the ship hard and disappeared into a formation of high clouds.

Computer, will the cloud cover hide us from the Wilde?

Not really Lieutenant.

Oh, thats great, he said.

The Odin came out several klicks west and was pinged again. Still
tracking, the computer said. Fighters 800 klicks and closing.

Im going to get as close to that large island as possible before they can get on top of us, he said. We cant outrun or outshoot them. The best we can hope is to get near the mountains and hope some of their missiles hit the ground and not us.

Thats not very encouraging, said the computer.

If you have a better idea, Im eager to hear it, he said.

The instrument panel let out a warble.

Missiles, said the computer.

Christian swung the control wheel left and tumbled the Odin toward the ground. One missile overflew and trailed away, the other slammed into a nearby hilltop. Letting out a sigh, Christian raised the ship to clear a small hill.

Lieutenant, more missiles, warned the computer.

A third missile detonated directly behind the ship, knocking it out of control. A fourth missile struck the rear engine mount severing the engine from the ship. Shrapnel tore into the side.

Going down, chimed the computer. Impact in 5 seconds.

The Odin headed toward a small valley at an incredibly high speed. Christian looked up through the view screen as the ship hit the surface.

Wrenching and tearing sounds filled the air as the nose of the ship is ripped downward, shearing off the pilots compartment. The tight, impossible spins shedding metal and instrumentation from the nose. A sharp pain fills his body as something strikes his right leg and takes it away. Blood streaming out behind.

Skipping along the surface and spinning in a counterclockwise direction, what remains of the ships nose careens toward an outcropping of rock. In a quick change of momentum, the nose strikes the rocks. Inside, the seat mounting breaks sending Christian through the view screen shattering his helmet and most of his ribs. Sliding along the ground, he comes to a stop 100 feet away.

Lying on his back, Christian looks up at the blue sky. The dark shapes of four ships grow larger above him. His sight dimming, numbness spreads across his body.

Computer, are you with me? he manages to whisper.

Yes Lieutenant, main memory was downloaded into your brain pod prior to impact, he heard in his ear. Nano meds have sealed

Oh, thats good, he thought, and closed his eyes.

CHAPTER TWO

Christians body laid facedown on the operating table. His sun-burned skin had barely a mark to show for his injuries. His right leg had been replaced. Deeply sedated, he breathed slowly in and out.

The gray-haired doctor concentrated on the unconscious body. Slowly he edged the scalpel through the skin at the base of his skull with small, precise movements. He sprayed on the medication that stilled the excess flow of blood before he widened the fissure. The doctor delved delicately beneath the neck muscles, careful not to injure them, exposing the pale bones at the top of the spinal column.

The human is ready, said the doctor.

So am I, a voice responded from the corner of the operating room.

A tall man with jet-black hair approached the operating table and stood at the doctors elbow. His military uniform was wrinkled and dirty. The stars on his sleeve marked him as a General. Peering down at Christians body, a silver light shown from his eyes. Stretching out his hand, the blue and silver gleam of a Daam-K'Vosh embryo glowed in his cupped hand. Like a living ribbon, it twisted and rippled, stretching toward its human host. Its thin, feathery tentacles, nearly a thousand of them, billowed softly like silver hair.

Gently, the General placed the small glistening alien inside the opening the doctor had made in Christians neck. The embryo slid smoothly into the offered space, weaving itself into the human anatomy. Its tentacles wound tightly into place around the nerves centers, some elongating and reaching under and up into the brain, the optic nerves, and the ear canals. Soon, only one small segment of its glistening body was visible. The doctor cleaned and healed the wound, applied the salve that sealed the incision closed behind the embryo.

The doctor gazed at Christians body, peaceful in slumber, knowing that this peace would be shattered as soon as he awoke. The horror of his life would be born from the alien embryo placed inside him now. In the corner of his mind he could begin to hear its will.

***human*host***

***we are here***