Operation Vepo

Note to the reader: This is only my second story, but I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave comments. It would really help me learn where my weak spots are as well as which parts were enjoyable and fun!

Disclaimer: All people in this story are over the age of 18.

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The year was 2033. After the monumental creation of the internet in the '90s, human's spent billions upon billions of dollars on scientific inquiry and discovery. In the first two decades of the 21st century there were unparalleled leaps in technology. The field of robotics grew expeditiously, genetic engineering and human cloning became a reality, nanotechnology, antigravity, artificial intelligence and automation all were incorporated into everyday life. From the field of robotics came a colossal wave of unemployment as millions of human labour workers were laid off and replaced with machines. The discovery and then rapid advancement in the field of genetic engineering led to a world where scientists handed out catalogues to would-be parents which highlighted all of the different services that they could purchase; some would buy increased height, muscle tone, cognitive functions, etc. Artificial intelligence, once a sci-fi dream, became the bread and butter of societal functions; every device, every phone, every television, every single electronically operated machine was outfitted with an advanced system of artificial intelligence which allowed it to operate entirely on it's own. Nanotechnology cured all known diseases, viruses, bacterial agents, and parasites.

Essentially, the world had drastically changed. People now spent their day's laying around on various surfaces watching their endless list of television shows. To some people, this was the dream. With every single 'daily chore' being completed by an array of robotic technologies, one could be as lazy as he/she wanted. However, there was a deep-seeded and extremely important emerging crisis that wasn't being covered in the ensemble of television shows being consumed.

Starting in the year 2017, safe drinking-water resources began to recede at an alarming rate. All of the newly developed technologies were built in industrialized settings. Thus, enormous amounts of water were being used to develop these products. And by the year 2033, nearly all of the drinking-water on Earth was gone.

During the year 2032, N.A.S.A. discovered a planet in a nearby galaxy that appeared to have the possibility of maintaining life on it. It was named, DOA-293. However, due to the enormous distance between DOA-293 and Earth, an expedition was required. And on April 27th of 2033, all of the world's leaders at the United Nations Conference created Operation νερό.

-

"Private!" The sergeant yelled.

Natalia quickly responded. "Sir."

"You and I, we need to talk. Come with me." The sergeant said sternly.

"With all due respect, sergeant. We're beginning parade in a few minutes, and it does NOT look good on me to be missing out." Said Natalia.

The sergeant, looking awfully troubled, cranked his neck to the side for a solid string of cracks. "That's not important anymore, not for you at least. You're now a part of Operation νερό."

Natalia was confused. "Operation νερό? I haven't heard anything about this yet."

The sergeant had a look of sympathy on his face. "Tomorrow morning, you will be briefed with the rest of your unit. Get your sleep. You're going to need it. Trust me."

She gave her salute and then turned around and headed back to her tent. Natalia was a private in the U.S. army, she was relatively new to her position as an infantry soldier. When she first joined the army, during basic training, Natalia was able to motivate all of her peers to performing at their absolute best. She finished first in everything, her written exams had perfect scores, her physical fitness tests were perfect, and the same went for combat training, and arms. She was a natural born leader, which was exactly why they chose her for this expedition.

As the silence of the night settled, Natalia lay in her bed, with only the sounds of the desert sand blowing up against the tent. Countless thoughts were running through her mind. She was thinking back to what her life was like back in the U.S., life in a tent in the Arabian peninsula was far from idealistic. She was even thinking about how she hadn't gotten laid in more than three years. And for a mere second, if it was even that, her hand ran itself over her mound. Slowly, but surely, she fell asleep.

The following morning...

Natalia stepped out of her bed at 05:15. Everyone on the base is supposed to be up at 0600 but she was way ahead of the others. In the 45 extra minutes that Natalia had, she would go for a fast 6 or 7 mile run. She would always come back to her tent with sweat dripping down her body and every man around staring at her. This time was no different. Natalia stepped into the massive tent, she was wearing very tiny and very tight shorts with a sports bra on top. All of the men in the room pretended not to notice but it was obvious that they were staring. Realistically, it was hard not to. She was 5'8, had a very cute face with piercing hazel eyes. Her neck was long and slender, along with her torso which was essentially fat-less. Her olive skin made her stomach look as if it was toned and sculpted to absolute perfection. And her breasts, they were nothing short of a miracle; c-cups, perky, round, just perfect.

As she walked back to her bed, she "innocently" flaunted her hips and tight ass to the onlooking men. Unfortunately for her, there was a strictly enforced rule in place that stated that there would be absolutely no sexual relations between soldiers inside of the tent. And since everyone feared the punishments that could be handed out in the middle of the desert, they unquestionably obeyed.

Natalia quickly switched into her uniform and then headed out of the tent.

"Private!" The sergeant called out from a distance.

Natalia shuffled over to where he was standing. "Sir. I'm ready."

"Good, let's get going then." The sergeant led her to the conferencing tent.

As soon as Natalia stepped inside she was greeted with a few handshakes and then a gentle ushering to her seat. Quickly, the room filled with about twenty people. There were about fifteen men, and the rest women.

A small woman, in her mid-fifties it appeared, walked in and sat down at the head of the long round table. "Good morning ladies and gentleman. We do not have a lot of time here today, so I'm going to have to go through this quickly. You're going to need to listen very carefully."

A couple of people exchanged looks around the table. Everyone was in the same position, completely and entirely unknowing about what this all was.

"Now, I'm sure you all have been wondering why you've been called here today. You're here because you've been selected to carry out Operation νερό. You've been chosen because in your areas of expertise you are the very best that the U.S. army has to offer."

A man hesitantly raised his hand.

"Yes?" The woman asked.

"With all due respect ma'am, we've been sitting on the fact that we've been chosen for some mysterious operation that we all know nothing about all night. Would it be possible for you to disclose what this operation is, soon? Ma'am." The man asked cautiously.

The woman exhaled, and then smiled. "Indeed, it has been a curious night for you all hasn't it? Vερό is Greek, for water. As I'm sure you all know, Earth's drinking-water resources have depleted to a critical point. More than three quarters of the world no longer have any access to clean drinking water. As of now, our species is on the brink of extinction. Recently, scientists at N.A.S.A. have discovered a planet called DOA-293 in the Andromeda galaxy that has a high probability of containing water. Your mission will be to travel to this planet and search for it. With the newest upgrades in lightspeed-platinum technology, you will arrive on the surface after one month of travel. You will spend one month there and then will head back to Earth. You will be leaving in 2 days. Do you have any questions?"

Everyone in the room simultaneously raised their hands.

"I refuse." Said one woman.

"I'm not going." Said another man.

"SILENCE!" The presenting woman slammed her hand down on the table. "You WILL BE GOING! There are no refusals. You are the last hope that our species has of surviving. Look at the people around you. We have five of the best engineers on Earth with us. We have the highest rated soldiers, medical personnel, navigation specialists, communication specialists, and technicians on the planet. You will do this mission. And you will succeed."

"How long do we have before all of the water is gone?" Asked Natalia.

Everyone at the table shifted in their seats as they prepared for the answer.

"Current estimations show that in around 6 months 85% of all humans will be dead. After an additional month, that number will be up to 99.9%." The woman responded.

People were exchanging scared looks.

"People." Everyone looked at Natalia. "We can do this. We can go there, and we will find water. We have the best people here for the job, the very very best that can be offered. And I can personally tell you all, that if anyone is going to save the goddamn world, it's going to be me! But I can't do it all alone, we need each other. Let's work as a team, let's fight, and let's save this fucking planet."

One by one, all members around the table stood up and saluted Natalia. The last person seated was the speaking woman.

She slowly stood up, dramatically placing her glasses down on the table. "Go pack your stuff, you're ship leaves in two days. Good luck."

With that, everyone left the room and prepared for the expedition.

-

One month later...

After the ship, the Vερό, landed on DOA-293 the search immediately began. The engineers, technicians, and communication/navigation specialists stayed by the ship and handled maintenance and reporting to Earth. The ten soldiers assembled the search party, with five groups of two each.

...

Crunch. Crunch. Snap. Crunch. Snap.

Natalia walked carefully along the 'stones'. The area of the planet that the ship had landed on was covered in odd stone-type objects. They were consistent in colour and shape with Earthly rocks, but instead of being rock hard, they were weak and crushed to dust when stepped on.

"Ron. Come here! Look at this." Natalia called out to her partner.

Ron looked up from where he was kneeled down. "What? I'm trying to sampl-"

"GET OVER HERE! NOW!" Natalia was obviously in a state of awe.

Ron walked over to where Natalia was standing. Finally, he laid his eyes on what Natalia was freaking out over. "HOLY SHIT!"

"What the hell is that?" Her finger was shaking as it rose up and pointed at the slimy creature slobbing its way across the stones.

"I don't know. But we should get a closer look." Ron started to slowly walk towards the creature, which was about 100 feet away. As of yet, it didn't appear to notice them walking towards it.

Ron's foot hit a particularly large stone and crushed it to bits, sending a loud crunch into the air.

"Shhhh! Do we really want that coming over here?" Natalia whispered, holding Ron's shirt and not allowing him to move.

"We need to get a closer look, Natalia. We came here to find water, and now we've discovered that their is life here. Maybe observing this thing will help us understand this planet better." Ron suggested.

"If you want to go look, go ahead. I'm standing back here and observing from a distance." She responded.

"Alright. Fine by me." Ron slowly creeped towards the slimy creature. As he started to get closer he was able to clearly make out its appearance. The creature was essentially a blob of slime, it looked to be about four feet long and around 3 feet tall, probably weighing 300 lbs. It was disgusting. The slime wasn't even remotely pleasant.

As Ron closed the distance between himself and the slime to 20 feet, he began to smell something putrid and horrifying. The black ball of slime had an odour so sharp and foul, yet his nose couldn't quite pin what it was.

Ron crinkled his face in disgust and decided to take a few steps back so that he would no longer have to smell the creature. But as he stepped, his foot hit a small grouping of medium sized stones, his body tilted off balance as only half of the stones collapsed. SLAM! Ron and all of his equipment hit the ground, creating a loud crushing sound.

The creatures head darted towards Ron. Ron's heart began to pick up speed as fear of the unknown settled in. His breathing increasing in pace.

The slimy thing didn't appear to have any eyes on its head. Nonetheless, it slowly slobbed its way towards where Ron fell.

"Fuck." Ron quickly pulled himself up and started speed walking back towards Natalia, who looked uneasy.

SCCCCCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!

Ron was holding eye contact with Natalia when the blaring sound suddenly exploded from behind him. Both of the soldiers fell to the ground with their hands desperately trying to shield their ears from the deafening sound.

GLOB! SMASH! The sound died down, and in an instant the creature had slushed its way onto Ron's back.

"Ahhhh! Fuck! Natalia! Get this thing off of m-" Ron's voice was cut off by the ripping sounds of bullets being fired from Natalia's gun.

After a few seconds, the slime slid its way off of Ron's back until it slumped onto the ground.

"That was a close one! Thank you!" Said Ron.

Natalia helped him up off the ground and then started walking back in the direction they had came from. "I think we need to head back to the ship now."

Thump.

Natalia stopped and turned around to see what the noise was. She was horrified, dropping her gun to the floor. Ron's body stood straight up, but his head was rolling around on the ground. Her mouth dropped open and a pint of air was sucked in in preparation for the coming shriek.

Out of nowhere, a large creature flew down from the sky and landed right in front of Natalia, immediately placing its finger against her lips. "You don't need to do that." It said.

Natalia's eyes were spread as wide as they could possibly be as she stared speechlessly at the creature that had just landed in front of her.

It appeared to resemble a human man. Probably six feet tall, he had a muscular build and was very good looking, almost angelic. However, he was also completely naked. His member magnificently stretching out to at least eight inches and pressing up against Natalia's uniform. But most shocking, were the two extremely large white wings attached to his back.

"Whh- What are you?" Asked Natalia.

The man tilted his head to the side in a sadistic manner. "That doesn't matter. I would like to know why you think it's okay to kill my children?"

"I. I. I didn't. What? I just, I saved my friend. AND THEN YOU KILLED HIM!" The seeds of courage slowly growing inside Natalia's heart.

The man reached his hand out and rubbed his finger along the side of Natalia's cheek. A half-smile creeping its way across his face. "Before your friend, I'd never seen a human before. You are quite exquisite."

With that, Natalia swatted the creature's hand away from her face. And with one quick and nimble movement she reached into her waistband a pulled out the pistol she was carrying.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Natalia fired four shots at point blank range straight through the creatures abdomen.

The man looked down at his injuries. He rubbed his fingers against the four bullet wounds and quickly they began to heal themselves. A look of horror poured out across Natalia's face.

The man looked back up at her. His eyes a bright red, filled with anger.

And in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the man slammed his hand against Natalia's neck, wrapping his fingers around her throat. With ease, he lifted her off of the ground. Her feet were dangling like that of a helpless sheep beneath his grip.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Natalia unloaded the last six rounds in her clip into the man. This time, their damage was repaired almost instantaneously.

"You're going to pay for that." Said the man.

Suddenly, they were off the ground. The man's wings rippled with unbelievable power. Quickly, they shot high up into the sky. As they were rising he removed his hand from her neck and spun Natalia around so that her back was pressed against him. She gasped for air but could only take in so much. His arms held her across the chest and abdomen, tightly forcing her to stay still.

"Put me down! Please! PLEASE!! PUT! ME! DOWN!" Natalia wailed, tears streaming down her face.

The man remained silent, slowly coming to a stop in mid air. They were around 1000 feet in the air when he finally lightened his grip and twisted her around so that they were face to face.

"Now. That wasn't very nice of you, was it?" The man asked condescendingly.

The intoxicating aroma of his breath filled Natalia's nostrils. She threw her head down to avoid the scent, but that only served to direct her eyes directly at his member. It rested, semi-erect against the portion of her uniform where her thigh would be. "fuck." She said under her breath. Natalia's primal sexual urges were overtaking her impulse of fear.

The man lifted placed his hand underneath Natalia's chin and slowly raised it so that she was looking him directly in the eye. He could sense her fear, but he could also smell her sex. She was getting wet.

"What is your name, human?" Asked the man.

"Why should I tell you that?!" Natalia once again getting courageous, even while being suspended a thousand feet in the air.

The man threw his hand behind Natalia's head and pulled hard on her tightly held ponytail.

"Owww!" She screamed as the strength of his hold forced her head uncomfortably back.

Out of nowhere, the man jolted her head, pressing it against his bare chest. With a quick swooping motion, they soared through the skies until coming upon a landing on the side of a mountain.

The man shoved her backwards, causing Natalia to fall to the ground.

Natalia's face was petrified, everything about her body told him that she was paralyzed by fear. Except. He could still smell the growing wetness coming from her sex.

"I'm not going to ask again, human. What. Is. Your. Name." He said through clenched teeth.

"Fuck you!" Natalia spat in his face, landing it right in his eye.

He quickly wiped his eye and then brought his hand up to her chest. "What are y-" Natalia shrieked from the sudden motion of the man ripping the top off of her uniform. Her large perky breasts barely moving from the motion, her tight sports bra holding them firmly in place.

"My name, is Argon. Now. Tell me yours." Said Argon. There was a twinkling in his eyes.

"Fuck off!" Exclaimed Natalia.

This time, instead of responding angrily, a huge smile pulled itself across his face. His teeth were perfect, his curled back lips accentuating them.

Natalia looked at him with despair. He was clearly having way too much fun to let her go unscathed.

Argon stopped laughing, his face becoming serious again. His hands tightened around her arms, continuing to prove that she was not moving from his grip. "One way or another. You're going to tell me your name."

In one quick motion, Natalia pulled head back and then slammed it into his forehead. This threw him back, releasing his grip from her arms.

As fast as she could, Natalia started running along the side of the mountain. Desperately, she threw herself over one of the edges onto a lower ledge about ten feet below. Her body slammed into the rock beneath her.