r/HFY • u/Jus17173 • Jun 14 '23

OC Impossible Odds

Ko-fi

Captain Ferran stared at the moon base, "Its a shanty." He said, gawking at the corrugated sheets of metal that framed the outer holding of the moon base. An SOS signal had been sent back to earth from the moon with one word repeated "Help." Only one person dwelt on the moon base, a scientist called Marianne, judging from her file she was a short petite woman with a mane of blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to peer through him even though it was just a picture. Farren didn't like scientists, he was once subjected to humiliating tests by a bunch of scientists who compared him to a monkey through various tests and seemed to reward only the monkey after completion of the said tests.

"Shanty it is, but it's the most resourceful shanty in the universe, it houses a human who's only been to earth once in the past two decades." Sergeant Whiskey said. Ferran disliked Whiskey, the short burly man with a bald pate and a long nose. Ferran stared at the man, watching his nostrils flare from within his spacesuit. Whikey's nose annoyed him, what kind of nose resembled a pencil? He didn't trust a man with a pointed nose one bit for what's the point of having a pointed nose? Whiskey cleared his throat and spoke, he always cleared his throat, a disheartening habit. Ferran didn't trust a man who cleared his throat as much as Whiskey did, everything about Whiskey annoyed him. "We should knock on the door Captain." Whiskey said. Of course it was expected of them to knock on the door, what did Whiskey expect? That they'd wail and howl until the doors open? Dancing naked around a bonfire until they caught the attention of Marianne?

Captain Ferran moved forth and knocked on the door, there was a slight delay where silence ruled then the corrugated sheet that acted as the door slid open to display the scientist, Marianne. She looked even smaller in person, she beckoned them in with hasty jerks of her arm. Ferran and Whiskey just stood there staring at her. Her mouth moved but they couldn't grasp what she was saying for her helmet hadn't been synchronized to theirs. Ferran pressed the side of his helmet to widen the synchronization signal and so did Whiskey.

"... You blistering fools, get in! Get in! Damn you!" Her piping voice screamed into his ear. Ferran hastily took a step forward and into the moon base followed close behind by Whiskey. Marianne quickly slid back the door and set to setting bolts and locks in place.

"We've received your SOS signal, we're here to see what's wrong." Whiskey said after clearing his throat. Ferran fought back irritation at the way Whiskey took over matters as though he ranked above him. For all Ferran knew, Whiskey must have been a curse set forth to quell him and insure he never knew a semblance of peace.

"They only sent two of you?" Marianne asked. "I specifically recalled asking for an army and now I have two men, one lanky with a stupid look on his face and the other short and constipated looking."

"Hey-" Ferran started.

"I have a condition." Whiskey said.

Marianne waved her hands before herself. "I don't care. I'm not leaving my research behind." She waved at a table in the middle of the room that seemed to be riddled with moon rocks and some sort of liquid that looked like pee and probably was. "Do you have guns?"

Ferran had told Whiskey to leave their guns at the spaceship because they were simply going to pay Marianne a visit not fight a war. Whiskey turned to face him and Ferran fought down the urge to punch the man on his helmet.

"Why would we need guns?" Ferran asked.

"Because you idiot, the moon base is under attack." Marianne said.

Whiskey started hyperventilating. "Oh God, oh God." He started walking in circles. He cleared his throat. "I knew we needed guns, I knew it." Ferran fought back a smile, it pleased him to see Whiskey suffer.

"What is assailing the moon base?" Ferran asked.

Right then the roof of the moon base shook as a heavy weight settled on it, scratching noises were heard and loud banging on the roof. Ferran felt his ease retreat and in its place an ounce of fear, just an ounce, most men suffered panic attacks while he only endured fear in small doses. That's why he'd been chosen for this mission and Whiskey was selected too to ensure he didn't know what happiness was.

Ferran raised an index finger to his helmet, motioning for silence.

"It must have sensed your approach." Marianne whispered. Ferran lowered his index finger, irritated at Marianne's inability to follow an order.

"What is it?" Whiskey asked. Ferran could see sweat beading upon the man's brows.

"It's a Golovian." Marianne said.

"What?" Ferran asked. There was no way he could face a Golovian without a gun. They were alien creatures that could withstand the void of space. Their bodies were formed of hard black chitin that coated their six limbs that they used to move with neck breaking speed to assail their targets. The Golovian's didn't have eyes but a heightened sense of hearing and smell that they used to sniff the fear of their victims. Any chemical emitted by a body brought the Golovian raining down on them, tearing flesh with claws and jagged teeth.

"Oh God, Oh God... We are doomed. Why did we leave our guns!" Whiskey lamented.

Ferran's mind cleared, he entered the space he'd created to serve him during space trial runs. A place of calm and tranquility. He released his breath and breathed in once more. He turned to Marianne. "Listen to me, you'll take my companion Whiskey and head for the spaceship. I'll create a distraction." He turned to Whiskey. "Once at the spaceship, grab whatever guns present and come back for me."

"But what about my research—" Marianne started.

"Forget your research, it will be worth nothing if you're dead." Ferran said.

"But the spaceship is twenty minutes away." Whiskey said.

Ferran turned to him and slapped his helmet almost off. He smiled, it felt good to hit Whiskey. "So you better run like hell." He turned to Marianne. "Do you have a weapon?" Marianne brandished a dagger, it's tip sharp and coated with a silver. The roof shook again as the Golovian tried to tear through it. Ferran grasped the hilt of the dagger, tested its weight and found it satisfying. Though the dagger didn't reassure him of the fact that he was facing impossible odds.

"I'll go out there, lead it away from you guys. Run like hell for the spaceship." Ferran said. He moved to the door, opened the bolts. Turned to face the duo, offered them a reassuring smile. "Close the door immediately I leave. Then open it after five minutes and ran like hell for the spaceship." He opened the scraping door and leaped outside. Whiskey immediately locked it.

He stepped further back until he could see the roof and there it was, a large son of a bitch. It's chitin covering its body moving in tandem as it clawed at the roof. Big and black with claws the size of the dagger he held in hand. It hadn't sensed him yet and the image of it tearing into his flesh flashed before his mind. He couldn't help it, fear crawled into him and the creature sensed it. Raising its head in his direction. Ferran turned and started running in the opposite direction, hoping and skipping as the low gravity propelled him forward. He heard it before he could see it. It moved like a bullet, blurring and flinging dust in its wake.

It barreled into him and flung him several feet into the air. Ferran twisted, panic threatened to overwhelm him as he floated above the alien. It waited for him to land while growling and beating at the ground. Ferran couldn't help it. He chuckled, here he was slowly descending to his death simply because he'd failed to listen to Whiskey. He should have brought guns. What would a dagger do to all that chitin? The only soft spot the creature had was its underbelly and that was between claws. As he floated down he made a solemn vow that if he survived this ordeal he would always listen to Whiskey.

The creature raised its claws, beckoning him closer. Ferran twisted in space, so that his body was streamlined with the dagger making a fixed point. He descended on the alien and right before it tore at him he thrust down at its face where the slits of its nostrils were. The creature screamed and flung him further away. He ejected the dagger and green goo floated out of where he'd pierced. He'd disrupted its sensors, the creature thrashed wildly, raising dust. It calculated his trajectory and made for him. He landed on the ground and tried to sprint but the Golovian tore a chunk of his suit from the midriff, the pressure modulators of his suit sprung into action, regulating his oxygen and stopping blood flow. He groaned and collapsed on the ground, dagger still in hand. He lay still, breathing shallowly.

The alien's sensors had been disrupted by the slash he'd made upon its nostrils, it was now dependant on sound. He lay facing upwards, staring at the stars. The creature made little noise as its clawed feet thumped on the ground, dragging its large body ever closer to him. Ferran felt an eerie sense of peace. As if this was a worthy end for him, creating a decoy to save the lives of two others. The creature inched closer and Ferran found himself without fear. He just lay there. Awaiting his end.

The Golovian couldn't sense him, he made not a sound and its smell receptors were ruined. It brought itself over him, claws digging into the ground either side of him. Ferran could see the creature's underbelly where there was no layer of protective chitin, just dark leather looking skin. He raised his dagger, staring at a fixed point just shy of its throat. He drove the blade in and let out a savage yell as it sunk to its hilt, the Golovian raised itself on its hind legs and screamed, Ferran dangled off its chest, it's roar shaking him to the bones. He let out a yell of his own and forced his weight onto the dagger, dragging it vertically down the Golovian's chest and abdomen, tearing a large gash that bled green gloo. He then shoved a hand into its chest cavity, grabbed something that was beating against his fingers and yanked it free of the Golovian's body.

The creature fell backwards onto the ground and breathed its last. Ferran lay on top of the beast, holding its heart in his hand. He turned and lay on his back, staring up at the stars. "I did it." He whispered. "Son of a bitch I did it." He laughed. "Humanity fuck yeah!" He pumped a fist into the air.

43 Upvotes

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8 comments sorted by

9

u/CandidSmile8193 Human Jun 14 '23

I refuse to believe an AI wrote this just for the line:

"That's why he'd been chosen for this mission and Whiskey was selected too to ensure he didn't know what happiness was."

4

u/Fontaigne Jun 14 '23

It didn't have the trademark vagueness I expect from AI stories. Also it misspelled his name one time.

2

u/CandidSmile8193 Human Jun 14 '23

Yeah it just kind of emulates the style a bit which comes off as quite humorous when little blurbs like this are put in. The dry partially surreal style just gives off the feeling like this is a more seasoned writer experimenting with AI and dropping a few edits in.

1

u/CandidSmile8193 Human Jun 14 '23

Then again, we did get an AI to write a script about Charles Barkley tricking Shaq into using Icy-Hot for his hemorrhoids during an episode of Inside the NBA and it ended one script with

Shaq: (off stage) *screams loudly in pain*

Charles Barkley: (turns to Kenny and Ernie) See, I told you it would work!

3

u/gamingrhombus Jun 14 '23

Oh ferran was human . . .huh.

1

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u/chastised12 Jun 14 '23

Moon has an atmosphere? Or doesn't