Chapter Two

"To see that someone's been like that—twisted, mangled, not even Processed but still thinks that they are part of the Horde—it's enough to make my skin crawl. And the fact that the kid has no idea of her human roots is even scarier."
~Victor Hoffman, remarking on his first contact with Errion Walsche

Anya had never been out in combat without another Squad to watch over her, but wished to god that she could get ahold of anyone to stop the Berserker in front of her from killing her.

The mere strength she felt in that mammoth hand was enough to scare her. Even pretending to be limp while she dragged her didn't phase this thing. But remembering intel, she thought that the Berserker females were blind and that they weren't really smart creatures.

So how was it she knew where Anya was?

Why didn't she announce her presence like every other Locust creature?

And how was it that she took her gun and let Anya live?

The smell didn't tell an exact location. She knew they did that to find their prey but most of the time they charged blindly at them. This one didn't do that. No, this one seemed to think about her actions unlike the rest of them.

Since she was behind her, Anya could see the dangling thing behind her and saw all the weapons on there. A Torque Bow, pistols—her own hanging on the top of the bag. And there were other things to secure it in place to ensure the tentacles didn't take it off.

Anya grabbed into the arm to try to stop herself from being dragged on the ground but was roughly shoved aside when the thing let her go. Then a shadow loomed over her and she watched the creature staring down at her with malice.

The Berserker was a goddamn Lambent and yet was shorter than any one she had ever seen in reports or out through the Ravens when giving intel to her squads. Even bent over, the thing must have been about 7 and a half feet tall. But the way her eyes glowed—

Anya swore that she couldn't be a full Locust. There was a somewhat human quality in those eyes which glowed with Lambent colors.

The tentacles came around and wrapped around her little body and the thing spoke in a different language, glaring at Anya.

The woman struggled against their vice like grip and tried raising her arms, but could raise them. Shivering, she tried in desperation to reach anyone on the tac com.

"Lt. Stroud to all available units, over!"

Static came to her ear, the first thing in a few minutes that she heard. Then a cheerful voice on the other line. "Tell Sergeant Sunshine the Lieutenant's—"

"I'm under CIC and some weird Berserker creature has me." She tried to keep her voice calm and quiet. "It's carrying me through tunnels with its tentacles."

Silence followed on the other line and then Anya felt herself be dropped harshly from their grip. She cried out in pain when she landed on the same side she fell from. Now she could feel all the injuries since she could retain control of her body.

"Anya!" The formality in Marcus' voice was gone. Not that she cared at this point—no one could really hear them.

"I'm alright," she groaned, looking at the Berserker looming over her. "It looks—puzzled."

"Does this have anything to do with what you told me last night?"

The brief conversation in her room made her think of the experiments and she gasped. "Oh god." Quickly she scurried up while the thing came closer. "It could be one of those. Her eyes are glowing and yet—"

She took a careful step behind her and felt nothing underneath her. Her head peeked around and saw that a pit of water was behind her.

An idea came to her. If this was an experiment, no doubt they'd want this specimen to study. The Berserker already had some unusual traits to her, after all. She just had to keep it alive, since she suspected the Berserker wouldn't be able to swim.

"Lieutenant?" There was the formal voice again.

"How close are you?"

There was yelling on the other line, followed by Santiago's voice. "Goddamn Locust taking over the city and there's more coming in Reavers."

Baird's sharp voice cut in. "God, Sergeant Sunshine is going to split us up again."

Anya almost chuckled if not for the thing in front of her.

"Damn straight," Santiago said. "Who do you want, Marcus?"

She had to get that damn thing in the water, just so she could gain a upper hand in this standoff. If she could subdue the creature, it would be something. "Baird. I need to be able to capture her. She actually shows human intelligence."

"You've got to be shitting me," the other hissed. "It's a Berserker. Those things are dumb and blind."

"This one shoots guns and talks in another language. Listen."

For a moment she kept quiet and allowed her to talk so the others could hear. Then the Gnasher pointed at her and suggested that she keep moving. Was her plan to drown her? If so, that wouldn't work.

"Holy shit, baby," Cole said. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Maybe it's the Queen's long lost sister," Baird muttered. "Might be sexier than that bitch any day."

"Lieutenant," Marcus cut in, "you sure that thing isn't like the Queen?"

Anything else that happened came in a blur while the tunnel walls started to cave in. All Anya could do was try to find some sort of cover. The water was the worst place to hide. Anything that hit her would make her sink and drown.

As she covered her arms, the inevitable crushing of debris on her never happened. Instead she smelled a horrid stench above her and was once again wrapped in the tentacles. Her body was pressed too close to the woman's back and her arsenal and her aching side felt every bit of it pressed in her.

"What the hell is with her!" Anya finally yelled into the com.

Baird's voice came over the channel. "What's going on? We heard noise."

She thought she was going to be sick as her body bounced around while the Berserker ran. "The fucking thing is running down the tunnel while it's collapsing."

"And what's your position?" Santiago asked matter of factly.

"Well—"

Debris filled the pool of water and Anya hoped that this thing could get her out of the tunnel, at least. At least she moved her body for her. Her leg felt like it was on fire. So did her shoulder. Now that she wasn't moving, her body felt heavy.

Goddamnit, she didn't need to pass out now. Then she'd really be screwed.

"She's carrying me out of the tunnel."

Then suddenly the Berserker stopped and Anya winced, gritting her teeth. What the hell was going on that the creature stopped in its tracks?

Gunshots fired out before she felt her move once more. The woman was crushed against the wall while the Berserker fired. Then she heard a thud and then moved once again.

When Anya looked behind her, she saw a dead Theron Guard with its head blown off and few rounds through its protective armor.

"Holy shit." It was out before she could contain herself. "This Berserker seems human with her reflexes. She just killed a Theron Guard."

Stunned silence followed.

"Sounds like she was once human," Marcus said. "Do what you can to detain her. We'll get your location."

"The computers are down," she told him.

"Fenix'll find you, baby," Cole Train came on. "Besides, you got an advantage. It wants you for some reason. So keep her entertained."

Anya gulped and felt the creature go faster. "But part of me knows that we should be killing this thing."

"She's not your normal glowie, Lieutenant."

Nothing else needed to be said. It was Marcus speak for not killing her and she could respect that. Even if Hoffman didn't order that, he understood why she wanted to try to bring it back to base.

If Hoffman read that report, it wasn't going to as much of a shitfest as she thought it was. But something told her he hadn't had much time to catch up on emails, either.

~2~

The human behind her wasn't quieting down and her chatter was bothering Erri from being efficient in her mission.

In truth she was going to put her in the water and then shoot her while watching her drown, but the collapse of the tunnels negated that idea. However, she couldn't afford to let anyone know about her and knew the human had to come with her until she could be disposed of. Her tentacles hurt from keeping her restrained for so long but she didn't want her to die underneath some stones. If she was one of them, she was a solider.

They deserve to die with honor. She would give the human a chance to survive.

But what did that matter? She was an enemy of the Lambent. As soon as she was released, Erri knew the woman would try to shoot her. So why did she feel the need to be protective of a single human? Why was she feeling things that were not proper as a solider?

Why did she feel a connection with someone who wasn't even her own kind?

She shook her head to clear the thoughts going through it and was pissed that Skaloth had sent her on a mission in which the Queen's Army were attacking as well. Her commander had sent her to death and didn't want to be the one to kill her. It was a coward's act and she would deal with that when she returned to Nexus. For now, she needed to find a way to get those weapons and dispose of this human.

Finally her chattering stopped and Erri could think.

The chaos up above was easy to hear. Humans screamed all over the place.

She'd have to take the human away from her city. Erri had nothing to do with the chaos that ensued in their city of Jacinto.

Her head throbbed. It had been dull since she had started her journey to the city but it only got worse. Concentration had been hard and seeing the human on her back made her think of things that were forbidden. She wanted to stop fighting and be somewhere she belonged.

The harsh world of the Locust was the only place she knew. Yet upon going back, Skaloth's harsh face would show surprise that the welp wasn't killed and he'd find yet another way to finish her off. That wasn't a place she belonged.

But what was she if there wasn't orders to follow or something to tinker with in her hands? How would she live without war and guns? Even worse—why was she thinking like the measly humans above?

She couldn't get soft. The human had to die.

Erri found the opening that she had dug through to get to the tunnels and was about to make her way down when she saw two large figures blocked it. One was a blonde with something covering his eyes and the other had a black thing on the top of his head.

It didn't matter what they were. They had guns. They were her enemy. Her longing of peace was on the back burner and she opened fire. They had enough meat on them to make a meal or two.

Her stomach growled. It had been a long time since her last good meal.

~3~

The familiar sound of Lancer shots told Anya that Delta had reached their destination.

Her only regret was not being able to see in front of her but heard Marcus bellowing out a command to someone. She didn't know what it was but felt the tentacles slowly start to loosen their hold on her.

She suspected the Berserker was unable to concentrate on holding her and fending off too many people. That or her extremities were sore. Either way, all she had to do was wait a little longer before the thing loosened it's grip on her.

It was rather quick but Anya was able to pull out a Boltok Pistol from her bag. Then she fell and landed hard on her feet.

The weight on her left foot was more than she intended and she went down like a sack of bricks, pain shooting all through her leg.

She only allowed that distraction for a moment before pointing the thing at her and aiming at the armor pieces that held up her chest plate. Most of the shots missed but she did put in a good effort. That and the gun had more kick to it than she thought.

But it caught the Berserker's attention and it went to grab her once more, pulling her up by her shoulders.

The gun fell out of her hands and she held Anya's body out in front of her. Her glowing eyes searched her while holding her out like a human shield at the same time. The gunshots stopped and Anya swore she saw the eyes flicker with something, but couldn't place what it was.

It spoke something in that guttural language once more and Anya wished she could understand.

Her eyes looked weary when they connected with each other. The lieutenant felt pity for the Berserker for the first time in her life, thinking it was probably just as confused as she was. But how long was it going to be like this until the Imulsion sickness drove her mad?

They had to take her down while she was still vulnerable.

"Anya, what the hell is it doing!?"

Marcus' voice came to her but she couldn't bring herself to look away. "I don't know," she said softly, unsure if he heard her. "I'm not sure what she wants."

The Berserker gently put her back on the ground and shoved Anya behind her while she tried opening fire on the two Gears again. It let out a screech before they returned fire and put a couple of rounds in her extremities, making the thing fall down where it had been standing.

Luckily it was not in the direction that Anya was barely standing or else it would have crushed her.

"That's not your normal glowie," Baird said in awe. "Most are huge. That might be a baby."

She hobbled her way over to where Baird and Marcus were standing and shook her head. "No. It resembles a human. Look at the way it carries things."

"We've never seen one have a gun," Baird pointed out.

"Enough." Marcus took a cool look at Anya. "You did good, Lieutenant. I think you'll be fine out on the field."

Is that all he had to say? It was Delta. They weren't on the radios where NCOs could hear them. They all knew how he felt. But it was Marcus Fenix, the man who was too cold for words sometimes. She tried to imitate his permanent scowl but couldn't when he came over and lifted her up into his arms.

"What are you doing, Sergeant?"

"You can't walk when you can't put weight on your leg." Between the two she saw the worry etched on his face. It was only for a few seconds before it passed. "We have to get you back before Colonel Hoffman has a coronary."

Despite the situation she cracked a small smile. He was trying to make her feel better. "And the Berserker?"

"We'll find a way to get her back. You'll have to explain that bit, though. You have the reports you mentioned."

Now that the threat passed, the chaos above didn't bother her so much. This was war. She was used to that. But she lost some blood with her shoulder wound and her leg felt like it was broken. For once she was being held and she didn't feel too much like a weakling. After all, she helped take down a Berserker.

And she was preserving science so they could gain an upper edge in the war.

Anya thought a little reward was necessary for all her efforts and put her arms around his neck to help him balance her weight. But she had to put on a front if he was going to.

"Let me walk," she commanded in that Lieutenant Stroud way. "I'm not dead."

"Not until the doctor clears you, Lieutenant." Just like that, the argument was over.

Weariness overtook her. All she remembered before nodding off was being comforted by his embrace and the way he smelled.