"We viewed space with the immaturity of a greedy child. We wanted so desperately to escape the shadow of our dying star. Our solar system was simply a used piece of infinity, Each new star was a beacon of our complacent hope in the treasures of our new frontier. We believed so wholeheartedly that it was all ours for the taking. We believed that we were destined to conquer the millions of pinpricks in the black canvas of the cosmos. The counter of our arrogance rested in the bowels of that ship, they embodied judgement of our misplaced sense of immortality and destiny.
Only a few of us knew of that ship and the events that occurred after it's discovery until our world came crashing down. We didn't know that our greed invited them, we were all too busy surviving. Some said they were a monument to the sins of humankind. Maybe they were right
We would never admit it but we are both equal in a way, we spread our seed across the universe to rape and conquer any world we touch but these avatars of death were ancient compared to us and in their own twisted way, beautifully perfect."
A piece from the memoirs of an Earth survivor.
December 24th 1900 hours, CIC Tower, Camp Elder, Mars.
Briggs knew he was in for a long night, standing amongst the rows of terminal desks in the tower his eyes and ears struggled to absorb even half the information that was being relayed. The Terragora was already off world so it was only a matter of time, he had faith in his men, they would do their part without fault or complaint. The problem was the evacuation of Haven. It wasn't like evacuating a school of a few hundred where you could just bus them away to another building. The major problem was where to house all the civilians if the worst happened, Camp Elder couldn't cope with even a quarter of the city's population. A refugee camp was possible but it wouldn't survive the first sandstorm, the situation if not contained was well and truly fucked up beyond all recognition.
He let out a painful sigh while rubbing the bridge of his nose, the stress was killing his sinuses, he could cope with any operation against a hostile force. The second civilians got involved though he'd gladly hand over control to someone else. The political ramification of civilian deaths or 'collateral damage' as the generals called it was already on the battalion's doorstep. Senator Adam Rickshaw was at this moment filing procedures to investigate the Reapers for the Siege on the civilian transport ship Nataro. Court martials were rumoured but if his men stood idle it would have been a bloodbath. Better to lose some than to lose them all.
One of the intel personnel came over with a steaming hot cup of coffee, handing it to him before rushing away to another duty. Briggs couldn't even nod in thanks because they left so quickly. He was grateful for it, sipping on the coffee at least gave his senses an escape for a few seconds, it didn't last long though.
"Tough day at the office Major?" A male voice sounded off behind him, turning to see the voice belonged to a short, thinly built middle aged suit. The first thing he checked was the visitor's badge, Briggs swore inside, he couldn't bear any distractions right now. He just wanted to kick the bastard out.
"Can I help you?" Briggs asked before taking another sip.
"Yes you can, I'm here on behalf of..."
"Good for you, as you can see I'm busy so fuck off." Briggs turned away from him without another word, thinking his ignorance would win for him. He realised after leaving the academy in his youth that he had no patience for the political game expected of officers. He'd rather be in the trenches with his troops than to mentally play his hand with these spineless wretches.
"Admiral Jordan told me you were rough around the edges, if you'd like I'll call him."
Away from the suit's sight Briggs rolled his eyes and vented his breath heavily. Admiral Jordan was always suspected by the lower officers of being on the corporate payroll. Like it mattered, somehow the money-makers always managed to sleaze their way in to places they don't belong ethically.
"No thanks I don't need any more useless people taking up space in my ops centre. Now what do you want?"
"I'm here on behalf of Gencorp. The Maivron is our property and concerning the situation we have a financial interest in what happens to it. I won't interrupt I'm simply here to observe and offer any information required."
"I take it your here to request recording's of whatever my men see?"
"That's not necessary Major, the footage will be streamed to my superiors in real time."
"Any footage of this battalion is classified."
"Admiral Jordan signed off on it before your men even left the planet."
"Just stay out of our fucking way." Briggs growled as he dragged a chair to the back of the room, slamming it down. The show of force did nothing as the suit sat on the chair as calm as he would sitting in a cushy office back on Earth.
Briggs tried to quell the rising tide of anger inside him, draining the rest of his coffee in one go. He had too many things on his plate at the moment to deal with this corporate pissing match. Let them have the footage, all it would consist of would be his men clearing an empty ship.
December 24th 2100 hours, The USS Terragora, Closing in on Mars orbital airspace.
Jacobs dreams were as chaotic as would be expected of a marine of his experience and years, it didn't matter how much training took over when the shit hit the fan, the horror, the brutality, his brain couldn't help but record everything. Every life he took, from five hundred meters to face to face, every brother and sister ripped apart before his eyes by mankind's gifted engineering of murder.
The Reapers' official records showed far more successful missions than failed ones, that's all the generals and politicians seemed to care about. If the Corps had a mission where mass casualties were expected they sent the Reapers. To Jacobs though most were failures, though only a Gunnery Sergeant in the battalion, no one could dispute that it was Jacobs that held them together. Only visible to the rare few who truly knew him, the responsibility was crushing, every fallen Reaper's tags hung on a wall in the Pit to show respect but in reality it was Jacobs that carried them all, hung around his soul. He had told himself so many times that he would leave the Corps and become the family man that Veronica had needed but deep inside he knew it would never happen.
He couldn't bear the thought of leaving his brothers and sisters behind to face death without him. His reputation as a cold, brutally efficient killer which the entire battalion gained it's identity from was another unwanted burden. He didn't enjoy the taking of life, he joined the Corps originally to guarantee a position within the police, he wanted to protect people. The past ten years had changed him though, he perfected his craft without the desire for it and now it was all he was suited for. Such was usually the case for good leaders that they never revelled in their power, they suffered under it.
His perfect storm of unconscious violence was gratefully disrupted as Emmett shook him awake, rising up in an instant, his hand grasping at his empty pistol holster. He relaxed as he recognised his surroundings, rubbing the sleep from his eyes he looked up to an expression that Emmett rarely wore on his pockmarked face, genuine care and concern.
"Time to wake up brother we're gearing up, better get your shit together."
"How long till we're hooked up to the Maivron?" Jacobs asked, still seeing flashbacks of the past.
"Ten minutes, c'mon I'll help you get your suit on. You good?"
"Fucking perfect, let's just get this shit done."
"Here," Emmett handed him a headset. "Sanders has an update for you."
"Is it serious?"
"Might be nothing but it might change the nature of the mission if he is right."
Jacobs quickly adorned the headset, hearing the comm line come alive with Sanders' insufferable humming. "Cut it Gloves and tell me what's going on." Gloves was Sanders nickname that the ground pounders gave him on account of his fascination with a pair of leather fingerless gloves he never flew without.
"This might turn into a rescue mission Gunney,"
"Bullshit, scans indicated this was a ghost ship," He hated last minute complications to a mission like this, even small things just rocked the boat too much to be a good thing.
"Look what do you trust more a scan by a regular intel guy from thousands of miles away or the me who is now literally twenty kilometres away and closing."
"Okay I hear you, how many life signs did you find?"
"It's not a life sign, the Maivron's EEV is still attached to the ship, I ran a systems diagnostic and someone tried to launch the life boat but the docking release arms are malfunctioning which means..."
"Someone tried to escape so there might be a survivor in the hyper sleep pod."
"Precisely."
"Okay give the signal when we are aligned."
"Roger."
He gazed around the armoury as his squad worked in pairs to get their combat EVA suits adorned, the suits weren't like the bulky ones that were used by civvies or regular marines. These were as slim as could possibly be, they had more in common with sea diving suits than EVA suits. As such each man had their suits specifically measured to fit their bodies like a second skin, the slimness allowed the use of combat webbing for extra ammunition to be carried as well as other equipment especially armour. The headpiece wasn't a 'fishbowl' either as they were commonly known, it was a pressure sealed unit made of the same material as their armour pieces with a thin visor, providing decent protection while retaining visibility.
Jacobs couldn't help but notice Watts and Drake sitting nervously in one of the back benches fully equipped with their weapons and plain black armour, watching the others as their knees moved faster than a pulse rifles firing rate.
"What the fuck are you two so nervous about? Your staying here."
"But Sir we thought we would be coming with you through the umbilical." Watts replied as Drake nodded with him but they were answered only by a mocking laughter from their new comrades, much to their confusion.
"We don't insert with umbilical lad especially with what little intel we've got. I'm not putting this bloody suit on for comfort." Smith answered them as he loaded his monstrosity of a machine gun. "They don't cover covert spacecraft insertion in basic do they? If we were engaged in the umbilical a stray round could breach the wall and cause catastrophic explosive decompression, completely fucking us and possibly the ship too. Not to mention that if we attached right now and the Maivron changed it's speed the same thing would happen."
"So how do you get over there?" Drake asked.
"Easy kid, we jump." Jacobs said with a devilish grin. "Your gonna watch us clear the ship and if we can stop the ship, then you can come over on the umbilical and help so we can bring it back home and let the intel boys do their thing."
Once everybody was suited up, armed and ready to go, Watts couldn't tell who was who apart from the etchings scratched into their armour and the weapons they bore, even their voices were coldly distant in their helmets. Harley and the half of his squad on the ship arrived in the locker room to join them. At this point they all looked more machine than man, and so they should for nothing living would dare to simply jump out into the void. One mistake would lead to a lonely demise among the infinite abyss of the stars.
"Everyone knows the drill and you sure as shit know I ain't giving out any speeches," Jacobs barked as he loaded his pulse rifle. "Emmett you take your team and clear the front half of the ship and see if we cant bring this bitch to a halt, I'll take the rest and see if Gloves is right. Harley you and your team get the ass end as always and prep her to blow if all else fails, any questions?" As he expected of them no one raised their voice, they couldn't see it behind his helmet but he smiled with pride, he wouldn't attempt this suicidal manoeuvre with anyone else and after today's drama he needed the distraction.
Everyone began to file out of the armoury until it was just Jacobs left with the two privates, he eyed them coldly from behind his mask. "Head to the Sanders and the flight team on the bridge, you'll be able to see everything through our camera's. Understood?" They nodded quietly like a pair of school children, it only served to aggravate him more. "And pay fucking attention! Watch everything we do and learn, this isn't a vacation day." Without waiting for a reply he swiftly turned to join his brothers in their leap of faith.
A few minutes later both squads stood ready as ever in one of the smaller personnel airlocks, every one of them glued in place by their magnetic boots. They stepped aside, making way for their comrades carrying forward the two magnetic line launchers, snapping both in place. Everyone checked each other's suits in a buddy system making sure they were safe for vacuum. "We all good?" Jacobs asked and received nods from everyone before patching through to Sanders. "Gloves we're ready, open it up."
"Roger, venting now." A second later a deafening hiss tore through everyone's ears as atmosphere was sucked from the airlock. When the process was complete all they could hear were their own breaths from inside their helmets and the solid thud of their boots gripping the floor. The outer lock opened unceremoniously and the endless expanse revealed itself to them. Sanders had aligned the ship till it was only a hundred metres away from the Maivron. For a brief second everyone just watched as both ships speared themselves across the black sky.
"This shit still turns me on, no matter how many times we do it." Jackson's voice came through on the open channel.
"Speak for yourself Jackson my dick couldn't move in this suit even if it wanted to." Harley replied." Now I know why you can't get any action, always knew that muscle was compensating for something."
"Can it you two." Emmett cut in. "Set the hook boys."
They fired the launchers and the two lines sailed across the gap, checking both lines were tight and secure the first two Reapers hooked on and leapt across the abyss, without a word despite their lives tied to a thin metal wire. Once they hit the other side they flipped a thumbs up to signal the okay. Activating the small magnets in their gloves before they began to crawl on the Maivron's skin towards its airlock, in pairs the rest of both squads took their leap of faith across. When it came time for Jacobs to jump, he couldn't help but notice his men already surrounding the airlock, lying in wait. To him it looked like the Maivron was a decaying dead body being surrounded by a swarm of crawling flies trying to find a way in to the corpse. He clipped his harness onto the line and froze solid, he never froze, it was an almost criminal act for an operator in the middle of a mission but he just couldn't seem to push himself forward.
He simply gazed out to the stars, to infinity, thinking how he'd just abandoned her to this harsh and treacherous galaxy. For a moment he was his old self before it all, he wanted to leave this all behind and protect her on the new frontier where he could try again at being a father. That dream was snuffed as quickly as it began, he turned behind to see Emmett simply nod his head. He didn't see his brother in arms, only the skeleton face of death he bore on his helmet, smiling back it's menacing sneer as Emmett did the brotherly thing and pushed him out into the black. In his head he thanked Emmett for what he had done, for a moment all sense of weight and worry was lifted from Jacobs as he drifted across the gap before he landed on reality and the Maivron on all fours.
Tool floated beside the airlock as he cut into it's controls, completely oblivious to his impatient squad mates surrounding him. Most of them had always said he was more machine than man, it didn't matter if it was tinkering in his garage with his now ex wife screaming in his ear or bypassing a lock with rounds passing by him, he never let it interfere with his work. A minute later the airlock doors slid open without anything launching out the ship indicating its lack of pressure. Being closest Tool pulled himself into the dark opening swiftly. Something floated across him, blocking his light, instinctively he grabbed it and used his forward momentum to push them both against a wall while he reached for his pistol. Whoever it was, she was clearly dead as Tool brushed her long, bloodstained blond hair away to discover a large cranial wound that bored directly into whatever was left of her brain. The others swarmed in with haste until eventually the last one in did the honour of sealing them in this moving tomb. There was barely space for all of them in the airlock as they floated over each other, staring at Tool and his new girlfriend.
"Knew you liked redheads Tool but that's just fucked up." Kristof, one of Harley's riflemen joked.
"I know I said it ain't necrophilia if they're still warm buddy but your seriously late to this party." Cutter added in.
"Shut it, both of you." Camp whispered as he drifted forward, taking her from Tool as he examined the wound, ignorant of the blood as it floated around him, splashing silently as it rolled around his armour as fresh as the moment it left her body.
"This wasn't caused by a firearm, or any weapon I recognise for that matter, looks like it punched through her skull and took out whatever it damaged."
"Maybe our possible survivor went bat shit crazy and killed everyone. Was just an idea." Bruiser pitched in as they started to move out the airlock. They needed to split up quickly, M class ships weren't known for their spacious interiors, thankfully this was an updated model with larger interiors, even though they were alone complacency was suicide to a soldier.
"Comms check Gloves, you reading all of us?" Jacobs had his head back in the game and followed procedure.
"Roger that, no interference and all the camera feeds are good."
"The ship was vented before we inserted and we have a body. Something else killed her."
"Roger that, everything is being relayed back home."
"Good, we'll keep you appraised" Jacobs reactivated his mag boots as he sunk to solid footing, instantly everyone followed suit. He tapped Harrid's shoulder. "Your on point brother. Jackson your coming with us, might need the extra muscle to secure this civvie if they have went crazy Let's get this done people."
As one they streamed out into the ship moving as silently as ghosts moving towards each of their objectives. The ship's decks were engulfed in near complete darkness but it didn't hinder them at all as the stalked through the halls aided with night vision. Their motion trackers showed movement everywhere, as such they were useless, every loose item on the ship would be setting them off. Everything from food to paperwork drifted around them as they moved forward, even the torn bloodied rags of what used to be clothing were brushed aside by their advance.
On their way to the bridge Emmett's team cleared every room wordlessly, all the hours in the kill house back on Camp Elder showed as their training kept them on a synchronised autopilot. One room caught their eye though as they searched it, it was the ship's main bunk room. Fitted with enough beds for a crew of over ten including lockers and two open plan shower cubicles. This should have been a place of rest for the hard working inhabitants, instead it was a bloodbath. Upon entering they found one of the bunks completely saturated with dried blood with a trail that led to a torn open vent nearby, the blood's dryness indicated that whatever happened here was before the ship lost gravity.
"The fuck happened here?" Cutter whispered as he traced his hand up the wall. "No one could survive losing that much blood."
"Never mind that, why the hell is it leading into the vent?" Marty asked but he wasn't even sure he wanted to know. "Looks like somebody got dragged in there." He approached the closed vent and tried to pry it open but it failed to budge. "Mallek you want to give it a try."
The big Maori nodded and grasped at the small gap, his exertion could be heard through the Bravo team's channel. Eventually it gave way and he peered inside to pure darkness. even with his night vision he couldn't see. He switched it off and activated the flashlight on his weapon and aimed it inside. He saw the inside walls were completely painted in blood and torn clothes were snagged into grooves in the vent's surface. "More blood in here, no body though." He lowered himself back down completely unaware of what had lurked in the vent just before he turned his light on, staring back without eyes and a deathly grin.
They exited the bunk room and continued to the bridge without incident but they couldn't ignore the haunting atmosphere of the ship. Every so often they could hear something heavy move through the ship close to their position but nothing ever crossed their path apart from debris. The door to the bridge was only slightly open when they reached it, an open gap of only a few inches. The rest of the squad covered the rear as Tommens and Mallek got to work trying to open it fully.
"Can you get it open?" Emmett asked as he examined the dents and deep cuts on the door along with what looked like burn marks but not ones caused by any tool he knew.
"Give us a minute, controls are completely fried and the servos must be stuck in place. For fuck sake!" Tommens gave up on the door for the moment as he shook the cramp out his arms. "Marty, Dacker give us a hand here."
"Looks like someone went at this thing with an axe." Dacker grunted while they strained at the door.
"Even if Smith hit this door with an axe he would barely put a dent in it." Emmett added as he tried to peek through the gap in the door but it was too dark even for his goggles. A few seconds later the squad's physical effort paid off as the door began to slide open, once the initial few inches passed the servos eased off and the rest was easy.
Emmett was the first in with his light on, quickly followed by the others as they slithered through the walkways of monitors and seats until they found a body. Tucked under one of the desks, nestled against the window with a large wound emanating from his chest. Once the bridge was fully cleared they gathered around the body as Cutter pulled him out from under the desk.
"Doesn't make any goddamn sense." Cutter mumbled as he examined the wound.
"Speak up Cutter. This op is getting stranger by the minute."
"I heard that." Tommens cut in.
"Look at the angle of the ribs, they're protruding outwards."
"Punched out not punched in." Emmett commented.
"Exactly." Cutter probed further, pushing his hand directly into the corpse's chest cavity. "The organs have been severely damaged too, something was eating this poor bastard from the inside.
"What the hell happened on this boat?" Mallek thought out loud as he looked around, his eyes following the dried blood trail leaving the body as it travelled in the direction towards the door they'd just opened.
Jacobs and his team moved through the decks without incident but he couldn't help but shake the nagging feeling that they were being watched, no matter how much he shook it off. They reached the EEV's access lock but Tool couldn't retract its release arms despite numerous attempts.
"Sorry Boss but nothings working."
"In your head more like," Jackson laughed "just admit you fucked the bypass."
"Would you like to try dipshit, someone completely killed the systems on this tug." Tool explained. "Without power I can't do anything."
"So Its a waiting game then?" Jacobs asked, Tool replied with a nod.
Emmett came through on the comms, his voice cold and to the point. "Bridge secured, Tommens is working on the power and life support, something fucked up happened here Ryan, found another body, fatal chest wound. Cutter says something was eating him from the inside."
"Stay focused on the mission and keep me posted. Harley where are we at with Engineering?"
Harley clearly tried to reply but it was so scrambled with interference it was near inaudible "...found...they're all here...shit's all over the walls."
"Harley your breaking up say again." Once again the line was nothing but white noise, Jacobs rationalised that it must've been interference from the close proximity to the ship's engines but either way he didn't like it.
Near everyone twisted around as they heard the EEV begin to retract, connecting again with the ship, not a second later they could feel the gravity being reactivated as they heard debris throughout the deck come crashing back down hard. Lights around them flickered into life and atmosphere was fully restored.
"Looks like Tommens did the smart thing and read the manual." Jackson nudged Tool with his elbow.
"Secure that shit lad." Smith muttered.
The motion tracker audio in Jacobs' helmet went silent, instinctively he checked the device, reading his team beside him. Not a second later, near the edge of the tracker's range he saw a signal move at an impossible speed before disappearing, the anomaly was accompanied by the tearing screech of metal being cut. The sound echoed through the ship. Harrid and Simmons reacted instantly, leaving the room to secure the hall outside and widen the perimeter. Once they stopped Simmons felt something stick to the underside of his boot, lifting it he wiped something akin to a gel like slime that stuck to his glove like glue, he dismissed it as he wiped it away.
As Tool got back to work on the EEV Emmett came back through Jacobs' headset.
"Something just moved like shit off a shovel just outside the bridge towards you guys."
"I know, something's on this boat with us, hold your position and wait for an update."
"This whole ship was vented before we got here how can anything be here be alive without a suit." Jackson looked a little on edge, the grip on his gun tightening as everyone asked themselves the same question."
"Do I look like I have all the answers Randall?" Jacobs was feeling edgy too.
"Got it!" Tool called out as the EEV opened up and they moved inside, nothing looked out of the ordinary apart from the bloodied clothes discarded by the side of the cryo pod and the used contents of a first aid kit tossed across the floor. Sanders' hunch was right, inside the pod lay a young man in his shorts, a bloodied bandage wrapped tightly around his chest.
"He's alive, life signs are nominal but I wont know about that wound till I examine him." Cutter stared intently into the monitor connected to the frozen cradle.
"You can do that once were back on the ship, wake him up if you can." Jacobs ordered.
"His whole crew is dead and here he his sleeping like a fucking baby." Jackson remarked as he peered through the glass at the civilian, completely unaware of the horrors that replayed in his unconscious mind. "My money is still on him being involved."
"Randall please shut the fuck up!" Jacobs barked as Cutter activated the wake up cycle, it took only a few minutes, when he eventually opened his eyes he was still frozen, not from the hyper sleep but from sheer terror.
"Sir listen to me very carefully, we are here to rescue you, I just need you to remain calm while I assess your condition." Cutter reached out to grasp the man's head to see if his pupils were responsive, but before he could the young man lashed out frantically, near falling out the pod.
"Get away from me!" He wailed as he leapt backwards, his body was still fresh from cryosleep though and his frozen, atrophied muscles failed him as he clattered against a console, shaking uncontrollably and perspiring at an alarming rate. "Did you kill them?"
Cutter began to approach him again, albeit more cautiously this time speaking in a slower more gentler tone of voice. "Kill who sir? There's no one else on the ship, it's just you, me and my team."
"Not who? What? There's things on this ship, monsters." His eyes darted back and forth in a panic, looking into every area of the lifeboat, every single crevice.
Bruiser eyed up the civilian, hefting his shotgun upward across his barrel chest. "Trust me we are the only monsters on this ship you need to worry about."
Jacobs' expression couldn't be seen behind his mask but the unsettling feeling he was getting from the ship was getting worse by the second. "What happened here? What's on this ship."
Cutter and Straven had thought they had seen every look of terror the human face could produce, people facing the prospect of pain, amputation and death, but the look of sheer, all consuming horror slithered an unsettling chill down their spines.
"We thought we'd escaped them, they're all dead." He crumbled to his knees as he wailed into his hands. "They're all dead, she's gone, it passed right by me and took her into the vent."
"I knew it this guy's fucking lost it Ryan lets just get him restrained, back on the ship and finish this up." Jackson reasoned, but before he could react the survivor lunged at him, before he could reach close enough to strike Jackson though he was halted still as the barrels of four weapons closed in on him, each one not two inches from his head.
"I know your far gone kid." Jacobs spoke softly while aiming directly between the survivor's eyes, one squeeze and he'd be dead before he could even blink. "Further gone than most, I know, you feel like your the only sane one in the room but listen to me, we have a job to do and if you try that again you'll be dead before you hit the ground, you got that?"
"Just do it, please," He was weeping openly now as he sunk to his knees begging. "They'll already be coming for you, I can't watch anyone else die."
"Boss I'm getting some seriously bad vibes off this shit." Cutter voiced as he lowered his weapon and within a split second, cracked the butt of his rifle off of the man's head, knocking him unconscious.
Just as he hit the floor Sanders came through on the comms. "Did anybody just think it would be fun to jump back over here a minute ago?"
Jacobs was getting sick of this complicating bullshit. "What the fuck are you talking about Sanders."
"I mean one of our airlock sensors just registered the hatch as open for a few seconds before the emergency override kicked in and sealed it again."
"Well unless somebody has the strength to open that bulkhead manually then no, must be a glitch so get back to maintaining course and deploy the umbilical on my go, understood?"
"Crystal."
"Little fucking shit," Jacobs vented his frustration in a low rumbling growl, he then pointed to their VIP lying comatose on the floor. "Pick him up Simmons, lets just get the hell out of here."
"Jacobs…backup...movement" It was Sergeant Harley coming through the comms.
"Fantastic now what?"
"...something took Kristof!" Even though both squads were on either side of the ship, with over a hundred meters of ship between them, the stark roar of gunfire could be heard and felt through the ship by Jacobs and his men.
He tried desperately to raise Harley on the comms but the radio was silent, Emmett answered the silence from the bridge. "Boss we've got life support online and we are decelerating, confirm contact?"
"Hold your position and stand by to receive VIP."
"Roger."
Jacobs slammed open the airlock release on the EEV and motioned to Simmons who was now carrying their burden over his shoulder. "Get him up to the bridge and tell Emmett he's to hold that room and the umbilical at all costs, the rest of us are heading to Engineering."
Just as he spoke another wave of gunfire rang through the ship, whatever was going on it was clear that 5th squad were in a serious fight.
Sanders came online again, something was happening in the background, shouting and gunfire could be heard along with screaming, it was Sanders "Seal the fucking bridge! Ryan something's boarded us! I repeat we have a hostile alien presence on the ship!"
"Deploy the umbilical. We're coming." Emmett ordered.
The constant staccato of weapons fire drowned their footsteps as Jacobs and his team sprinted towards engineering. With every corridor they passed though the barrage seemed to lessen, eventually they could only hear one rifle firing. The last gun fell silent as they approached the ladder that would take them down to engineering, they circled it with careful footsteps as they illuminated the hatch that would lead them down.
"Fucking Christ." Smith exclaimed as he knelt down to look closer, the evidence of carnage was splattered all around the hatch, the blood still fresh as it dripped slowly down the ladder one handle at a time. So concerned they were of who's blood it belonged to and with their only illumination watching the crimson shower, they never seen the black devil drag their bleeding brother away down the hall, his head obscured by the horror's black, oily claws nearly breaking his helmet in it's grip.
"Harley! Anyone!" Jacobs cried out, a scream filled with agony came from below in reply. One by one they lowered themselves into engineering, taking great care on the ladders slick with the fresh blood of one of their own. Camp was the last one to descend, picking up an abandoned pulse rifle he inspected it to find the barrel still glowing hot and the magazine counter reading zero. Even with power restored none of the lights on this level were functional.
Everyone had the same unspoken thought as the scanned the foreboding dark, in close quarters with that expenditure of ammunition even a civilian would hit something. The threatening silence was broken as something could be heard from the tunnel directly behind them. Instantly they swung around towards it as the motion tracker began to beep, it's pace quickening by the second as something approached them.
"Could be one of ours." Harrid whispered and a sickening hiss was the answer they received and they further enforced their aim down the tunnel but their flash lights could only illuminate so far.
"What the fuck is that thing." Camp exclaimed as he peered through his scope with the night vision on.
"We can't see anything Camp." Jacobs replied
It crawled along the roof towards them, its head near blended in with the pipes it clung to, slowly it lowered itself like gravity had no effect, controlled and elegant like a dancer. It was massive, near eight feet tall, its movements despite it's size were graceful as it crawled on all fours towards them, clearly aware of them as its tail waved back and forth with a menacingly sharp edge. Camp took aim, his finger curled around the trigger to take the shot before the beast dived backwards into the darkness.
"Whatever it was we need to find the others." Jacobs spoke as he stepped forward only to be halted by Camp's hand as he still held his rifle up with the other, his eyes never leaving the scope.
"Nobody move a muscle." Camp spoke so quietly he could only be heard through the radio by the others, his voice was shaken but his stance was as still as a statue.
They saw at the edge of the darkness multiple sets of glistening teeth emerge, seven in all, their jaws saturated in glistening saliva and the deep tint of blood reflecting off their flashlights.
"Seven contacts." Jacobs whispered.
"Eight." Camp corrected, the tremble in his voice unnerved Jacobs.
"Where?"
"Right above me."
Everybody froze on the spot, copying Camp and without moving their heads, their eyes rose upwards to see the monster above them. Jacobs damned himself for never seeing it, gripped to the pipes directly above Camp's head, he couldn't believe the size of it, dwarfing even Smith. It's elongated cranium lowered so its jaws were mere inches from his comrade's head, thick saliva mixed with blood dripping onto him.
"Camp move back, very, very slowly. Guys if that thing moves shoot it. Don't worry buddy we got you covered."
"Still not comforting." Camp muttered as he readied himself for the worst, it took him a second to work up the courage to move, his legs were paralysed but finally he moved his left leg back a step. His scope never left the creatures ahead of them but something dripped onto the lens blocking his sight, it was blood. Everyone snapped their weapons upwards to reveal a steel grin attached to the biomechanical black horror, within the blink of an eye it pounced from the roof landing on top of Camp. Before he could react he was slammed into the floor with the creature's full weight crushing into him, it was all he could do to hold back the alien's head. Fighting against it as it thrust it's head forward, snapping teeth and violent screeches filling his senses. It pushed it's head once more, its jaws wide open as a tongue shot out like a piston, with a second set of menacing teeth that closed a hair's breadth from his visor.
A torrent of gunfire erupted as the other creatures charged forward, leaping from all over the tunnel, they pounced from the walls, roof and floor with impossible agility as Jacobs rushed to Camp's aid. He charged forward recklessly and nearly paid for it as the alien's tail smacked against his chest, throwing him onto his back. The team's rounds landed home constantly, a testament against such agile targets but the soft slug rounds never penetrated the creatures' skin, their exoskeleton was as tough as the armour plates the Reapers wore. Jacobs leapt back up and carefully peppered the alien that Camp struggled desperately underneath, he could barely see him under the creature's body, as the rounds struck its exoskeleton sparks emanated from its glistening hide and it scrambled back down the tunnel along the wall like a spider. Jacobs lifted Camp back up, his eyes caught the deep scars across his armour but his suit wasn't penetrated. His attacker didn't completely retreat, merely joined the others as they charged through the hail of gunfire that seemed to inflict no damage, only a barrier.
That changed when Bruiser completely abandoned any sort of fire discipline with his automatic shotgun, the sheer concussive force of the weapon drove them back as the creature's divided, Three dashed into the maze of the ships vent network. The other half of them stayed, crying out in pain before they rushed back towards the Reapers for another attack, making alarming progress towards them, further than before.
Jacobs knew they were in serious trouble. "Fall back!" He screamed as they back-stepped towards the ladders they had just descended from, he turned his head swiftly but barely saw the massive black shadow as it slammed into him and Harrid, crashing them both into the floor. For a split second they both stared into each other's visor until long, skeletal digits wrapped around Harrid's helmet before he was ripped away. He felt someone grab his vest, dragging him back, helpless as he saw the alien rush down the tunnel past its kin with Harrid in its arms as the disappeared into the dark unknown. His screams blared into everyone's ears through the open comm channel before it cut out.
Jacobs couldn't quite believe this disaster, he was dragged to a sitting position by Smith who roared while firing behind them. "To our rear! Get up Ryan! We're getting flanked!" His massive machine gun spitting out rounds at a deafening rate, the muzzle flash akin to a dragon spitting out fire. He shot at one of the creature's as it slithered down from the ladders behind them, they were cut off. Smith never let go of the trigger, the muzzle glowed a molten red in the dark but still it advanced. Until one of the rounds punched through its steel teeth, smashing them apart as the round bounced around inside its skull before exiting at the back. yellow blood sprayed from the exit wound onto the ladders. Instantly he swung his weapon to another of the creatures, they were getting flanked from both the tunnels to their side. They were being herded to the last tunnel behind them, slowly pushed back into some kind of trap.
"Aim for the mouth! The mouth!" Smith screamed and the others followed suit. Camp's accuracy showed as a single shot rung out in a rare split second of silence, punching through one alien's skull as it dropped like a puppet without strings. Rising unsteadily Jacobs couldn't take his eyes off the ladders even through all the noise and danger, the blood from the alien erratically melted away at the ladders and the floor beneath it. A square foot wide piece of floor disappeared in a matter of heartbeats as the corrosive liquid sunk deeper, there were no decks below engineering, only the hull.
"Hull Breach! Hold onto something!" Before the words fully registered among the others the tell-tale whoosh of atmosphere being sucked out through the floor. Everyone, even the creatures forgot the fight for a moment as they all could feel space pull them into her deathly embrace. They reached or the nearest fixed object and held onto them for dear life. Jacobs wrapped his arm around a pipe fixed to the junction connecting the four tunnels and activated his mag boots, the muscles of his arm near tearing as he fought against the pull. One of the aliens wasn't so lucky as it flew past Jacobs into the hole. When it past its claws lashed out tearing a large gash in his armour, a centimetre deeper and it would of ripped his suit open, killing him. He counted his lucky stars as it sealed the hole with it's body for a brief second. Watching with a hint of satisfaction as it screamed in agony, its innards being sucked out of its back before it disappeared from existence and the fight.
The four remaining still managed to crawl along towards them, fighting against the decompression. Three still pushed on from the front while one was getting closer and closer to Cutter on the right, he was all alone on that side and no one could help him as it drew closer. Lashing out with its tail it struck just beside his arm that held him in place, one more strike and he was done for. When death looked at him with a toothy smile he spat in its face, pulling his side-arm from it's holster he fought the pull and hammered rounds into its fingers that held it onto the wall. He tucked in as black fingers flew past him, narrowly dodging the acid blood as its owner followed it into oblivion.
Jackson was closest to the remaining three as they closed in, to him it looked like they were smiling in triumph as their eyeless faces bore into him. Inside his helmet his face was coursed in sweat, his breathing echoing in his ears above the deafening noise of the hull breach. He tried to raise his machine gun to repeat what Cutter had done, but the weapon was to heavy to lift one handed while fighting against the evacuating atmosphere. Trusting his mag boots too much he let go of the pipe to hold his weapon two handed and flew back towards the breach.
In an incredible show of strength Smith grabbed him with one hand pulling his entire body tightly against him, giving him the use of both hands to unleash hell. This was no time for ammo conservation and Jackson knew it as he unloaded on the beasts with a flood of fear and rage. His roar could be heard through the radio over the storm of gunfire and evacuating atmosphere, soon everyone tucked in as the acid blood started to fly. Elation filled him as one alien went down but just as the last ounce of atmosphere left his magazine ran empty with a dry click, bringing the fight into zero gravity.
Just as the others started firing Jackson tried desperately to reload. Smith was still behind him, one alien lashed forward, its barbed tail skewering through Jackson, the tail's tip penetrated into Smith's chest piece locking the three together. To Jackson it felt like he had been punched with an almighty force. He was unaware of the extent of the damage in the heat of battle until blood started to pour out his mouth, filling his helmet.
Using it as an anchor the alien pulled itself towards them determined, it grabbed Jackson tightly, lashing out in a frenzy of pain filled rage. Slashing, screeching and biting away at him. Smith was powerless to help him and the others didn't want to shoot him by accident. His blood floated around the two Reaper's in a dance joined by the alien's as it ate its way inside him, his body shielding Smith's from everything, He felt Jackson go limp but he wasn't dead yet.
Using the last of his strength and letting out a cry filled with pure agony he grabbed both of the creature's arms in a death grip before kicking off Smith. Propelling them both into the last creature as it joined its sibling and began ripping him apart as they floated down the tunnel. His last thoughts were of pain and hope that his brothers would understand what to do next and survive. His last sight was of teeth as they cut his life away.
"Everyone up the shaft!" Jacobs screamed in anguish as they floated towards and climbed up what remained of the ladders to the next deck. Smith was the last, floating by and hanging on to the ladders with one arm and the back of Jacob's armour with the other.
No one would see what he was about to do next, nor would they see the tears running down inside his helmet and the pain he felt as he watched those two monsters glide down that tunnel with the closest of his brothers. He had known Jackson since they were children. No matter how hard he tried to save Jackson from the life he lead, he never left his side. His only regret was that he couldn't end his suffering sooner.
He cocked the under-slung grenade launcher of his pulse rifle and without regret fired it down the tunnel. Before he could see the result he felt himself being pulled up as Smith flung him up through the shaft. He sealed the hatch just in time before they could all feel the explosion reverberate through the ship.
The others secured their immediate area while Smith clung to the top of the hatch, afraid that if he moved those things would come bursting out, while Jacobs just floated in the air in silence.
"Ryan, what the fuck is going on down there?" Emmett sounded panicked which was an extreme rarity.
"Emmett," Smith took a breath as he was still panting. "Get everyone prepped to leave, as long as you still have pressure up there, get everyone and that civvie off this ship now!"
"I've already sent half the team through the umbilical, whatever those things are there's one on the Terragora. It grabbed Ashley but Sanders and the flight crew are secure on the bridge. The kids are still out in the open with that thing."
"Jesus Christ, get over there and help them. Now!".
Another comm line opened with the now familiar interference that 5th squad had. "Ryan, anyone?" It was Harrid.
Jacobs said as he reloaded his weapon. "Everyone ready up, we're going back down there, we still have men down there. Emmett get the flight recorder and extract, once this is all over and the ship is stationery we're scuttling the bitch."
"Roger."
"Lets move." They crawled back down the hatch, moving like their enemies down the tunnel, they couldn't walk, the most of the corridor was gone, the floor was covered in stars and never ending.
Jacobs and the remainder of his squad drifted through the rest of the engineering deck without any sign of the alien that took Harrid. They couldn't ignore what else they had seen though, after clearing the damaged part of the ship the walls began to change in a twisted, grotesque way. It seemed to the Reapers that they were gliding into the devil's insides, the ship's architecture was consumed by black sinew and bone. Solid to the touch the organic material drained away at any source of light, giving the impression that they were being slowly swallowed, never to see light again.
No one uttered a word as they cautiously proceeded, their eyes scanning every inch of the walls. Every so often they stopped, so convinced they could see the alien hiding within its own construction only to be proved wrong, it was the perfect camouflage.
They knew if they followed the growth they would find Harrid and the last alien. It guided them towards a shut door absent of the resin that coated everything around it, as they approached it opened revealing the belly of the beast. Their mag boots barely found purchase as the magnets pulled their boots into the wet, alien floor. They had unknowingly entered one of the storage bays next to the ship's engine room, wide and open planned it stored only the dead now. Litres of blood floated around the room like liquid curtains of crimson that came from Harley's team, they had been ripped apart. Their bodies floated close to the floor, some were still recognisable, others would only be identifiable by their tags. In addition to the bodies waist height orbs almost looking like eggs littered the floor, most of them opened from the top like a perverse flower.
Jacobs' recognised Harley's body immediately by the broken heart insignia scratched onto his chest piece. Standing beside him he saw the extent of the carnage he suffered, one leg was crushed and bent at a horrible angle. The death wound was more obliteration than a wound though His face was essentially gone, what was left was smashed under his helmet creating a gaping hole that Jacobs could fit his fist through.
"Goodbye brother." He murmured as he reached inside his suit, ripping off his tags before stuffing them in an empty magazine pouch.
"I've found Harrid!" Bruiser shouted from the far side of the room, before the rest could reach him, Jacobs could see Bruiser trying desperately to pull him from the wall.
"Get over here and help me! There's something wrapped around his fucking head."
"Bruiser don't touch him!" Cutter's voice was harsh enough that Bruiser backed away immediately as he approached. By the time Jacobs got to the group though Cutter simply backed away from Harrid's body shaking his head as he looked towards him.
"What are you waiting for? Get it off him!" Bruiser shouted.
"I'll kill him if I do, it's fucking melted through his helmet."
They let their guard down, in any other situation they would of still kept their composure, against a human enemy at least. The threat of the alien was still in their minds but they kept their sights focused for an eight foot killing machine. Not what had crawled out of an egg silently speeding towards the team with eight legs that gripped the floor as it advanced with a singular purpose.
"Boss, behind you!" Camp shouted.
Jacobs twisted as sharply as his boots would allow, swinging his pulse rifle around to bear on the threat, his brain only processed eight pale legs and a tail before it attacked. Latching onto his rifle the parasite crawled passed the weapon instantly, beginning to crawl up his arm as Jacobs lunged backwards onto the hard, bony floor, his boots lost their grip and he floated through the air towards his comrades as he struggled against the parasite. It moved so quickly it was all Ryan could do to grip one of its legs to halt its progress, trying to fight his grip the rest of the parasite's legs flailed wildly trying to gain purchase. The claws at the end of each digit began to scratch at his helmet and visor nearly penetrating both as it's tail wrapped around his arm with a bone breaking grip.
Everyone piled around him, halting him from flying further and trying desperately to get this thing off him. Smith held the main part of its body while Bruiser struggled trying to unwrap its tail from Jacobs' arm who was gritting his teeth in pain.
"Hurry up it's gonna break his arm!" Smith shouted over the struggle.
"I'm trying..." Bruiser grunted and after what felt like a minute but was only a few seconds Jacobs felt the crushing pain in his arm dissipate. The fleshy underneath and protrusion disappeared as Smith hurled the spider away from them, it glided helplessly to the other side of the room until it hit the wall opposite them. Struggling to get his boots on the ground Jacobs looked up to see the parasite leap from the wall it hit and fly back towards the team. It didn't get far as a second later it exploded as the others gunned it down. The acidic properties of it's blood seemed thankfully to have no effect on the organic material. Yellow orbs splashed uselessly on the floor and drifted in every direction, they would need to be wary and avoid the floating liquid death.
"What the hell are these bloody things?" Smith helped Jacobs grip down, checking over his arm, noticing the faint burns into his gauntlet. Turning back to attend to Harrid his body was completely blocked from their sight by the last creature as it crawled over him with an enraged pace. Steel teeth clicking together with aggressive vibrations as saliva floated away from a mouth originating from hell as it tensed to launch towards them. In a few seconds it would be on top of them, tearing into every single one of them, even if someone landed a lucky shot, the blood might hit one of them. They all knew they had no choice and opened fire with everything they had, at first history repeated itself and the soft slug rounds failed to penetrate the alien's armoured exoskeleton. Though either under the sheer weight of fire or a few good shots the beast launched backwards, pressing against Harrid's body as acidic blood erupted onto him from its exit wounds.
The threat was eliminated but there was no elation felt through the squad, they were too busy watching in horror at their comrade's demise. The acidic blood ate through his armour with ease until it reached his skin. Ending whatever misery he may have suffered Jacobs fired a short burst directly through the arachnid parasite into Harrid's skull, killing both instantly.
"We'll come back for all of them before this is over, we need to get back to the ship." Jacobs said before leaving, without another word the other's followed, there would be time for the dead later, right now the living mattered more.
"First goddamn op in this outfit and we're babysitting the fucking ship, talk about spitting in our faces." Drake complained as they casually walked through the corridors of the Terragora in their search for the faulty airlock. Without proper time to become accustomed to the ship's layout her decks and access corridors seemed like a maze to the two young men. They had no idea of the numerous secret passages and hidden weapon caches dotted around her body. The night before Watts heard mention from some of the others of one of those caches, all he heard was that it was Camp's most treasured possession, scattered in separate pieces around the ship.
"What did you expect dude, a couple weeks out of basic and we'd be jumping through space killing pirates and marauders with guys who have been doing this since before we even dreamed of having hair on our balls."
"Kiss my ass." Drake hit back instantly, flipping him the finger as an addition.
"Heads up dude, there's a map." As they walked towards it Watts could swear he heard something moving nearby, checking over his shoulder to see nothing as the sound disappeared away into the unknown. Ignoring it as a trick of his mind they peered into the layout, only to see it coated in a thick jelly-like substance.
"Dirty assholes don't even keep their boat clean." Drake exclaimed in disgust as he tried to wipe it away from the map. "You gotta be shitting me, we finally find a map and the airlocks just, down there… huh, lights out too. Maybe a short circuit kicked off the airlock sensor?"
Two flashlights clicked on, dispersing the shadows and revealing more of the strange jelly, only now it coated all four angles of the corridor leading to the airlock. Watts now realised why Drake recoiled at the smell, the smell of rotten meat clung to the air with a hint of acidity that choked the back of their throats.
Swallowing a pinch of vomit back down his throat Watts started to retch. "We need to call this in. this shit ain't coolant." Beating them to the punch, gunfire could be heard from the other side of the ship, the channel scrambled as more gunfire came through their radio.
"We've been boarded! Its fucking huge, whatever it was it took Ashley. Where the fuck are you guys?" Sanders voice was shaking heavily, it rattled the both of them to hear him scared.
"At the airlock, what do you mean 'it'?"
"A fucking alien, put eight rounds in it, didn't do anything, just took her and ran." He paused for a moment in a tense silence. "I've sealed the bridge, I cant risk it coming back in here, The others are engaged on the Maivron too so for now you two are on your own. Just find Ashley and get this thing off my fucking ship."
"What's it look like?"
"Trust me you'll know, I'll monitor the camera's and update you if I see it."
The channel died as the readied their rifles, the sudden change in their objective rattled both of them, though neither would ever admit it.
"Must still be near the bridge. You ready?" Watts asked, Drake nodded a reply as they moved forward with the muzzles of their weapons following their eyes through the first few corridors. The only break in the silence was their heavy rushed breathing, adrenaline coursed fully through their systems, their eyes darted to every slight and sound. Both nearly jumped out their skins as a woman's painful screech rang through the corridors, it sounded nearby, along with something heavy smacking off the floor. They rushed towards the noise's origin with the naïve bravery of the young and immortal.
Rounding a corner they aimed down the corridor, their light reflected off a comatose Ashley, she lay slumped against the wall with a small bloodstain on her chest.
"Ashley!" Watts called out as they ran towards her, he rushed into a crouch, lifting her head to find her unconscious but still breathing.
"Ashley wake up! Lieutenant!" He tried slapping her cheek and shaking her violently to no avail, she appeared almost drugged. Examining her chest the wound was minute almost like a syringe mark with minimum blood loss.
"What's wrong with her?" Drake asked from behind, his eyes scanned their surroundings. Any trace of his hangover was pushed from his body as fear sharpened his sight but still no threat was in sight.
"I dunno but we need to get her somewhere safe, c'mon lets go." Watts grunted as he lifted Ashley and slung her over his shoulder, making it nearly impossible to bear his weapon.
"I'll take point." Drake muttered as they began moving slowly.
They made it through the first corridor before it first attacked, it pounced from the roof without sound, hammering into Watts and Ashley flooring both of them and driving Drake into the wall. He recovered quickly and fired his weapon at the dashing black figure as it dived back on top of the other two. Rounds sparked off the ribbed torso and the translucent carapace as its tail smashed down, barely missing Watt's head as it began its frenzied attack.
Watts was pinned down by the creature and Ashley's body as she lay unconscious on top of him, instinct surged as the eyeless face shrieked, thick saliva dripping from it's jaws on to his face as he could hear rounds being discharged. Strike after strike its tail came down, hammering into the floor next to Watts' head, it screamed in frustration before the claws came down. Instinctively he tried to move Ashley's body, without care or thought she was his human shield as Drake watched completely helpless.
Still firing his pulse rifle, keeping his distance he saw the creature's claws sink into Ashley's back as gore started flying, spraying his face as Watts became drenched in her blood, flooding into his mouth so much he was choking on it. Realising its bounty was dead it raised itself up, blood covering its mouth as it turned to Drake, much to his horror and charged.
He cried out as it weaved to the side, it's tail whipping across his face knocking him down, it then quickly wrapped its long fingers around his torso, lifting his full weight without effort, drawing his skull into his view. Drake's sight was filled with the alien, even under the body armour his ribs felt like they were being crushed, it grew tighter and tighter. Its jaws opened revealing two sets of steel teeth as he felt its body shaking violently through it's hands.
Watts coughed up Ashley's blood as he pushed her ruined body off of him, seeing Drake and the imminent danger he faced. Watts lunged to grab his rifle, hands slick with fresh blood, trying desperately to wield the weapon. Shouldering it he instantly fired, covering the alien in automatic fire, sparking off its back until a round pierced one of its dorsal tubes blowing one half of it off. It dropped Drake with a cry of agony as a yellow liquid spurted from the wound towards Watts, he blocked the blood with the side of his rifle without thought. The creature fled with speed down the corridor as Watts stared in disbelief as the blood melted his rifle before his eyes, he dropped it to another threat as the gauntlet on his right arm was hit too. His fingers were near useless as they struggled to undo the gauntlet's clasp, his heart raced beyond counting as he saw smoke billowing as the fluid melted closer to his arm.
Drake struggled over, still in agony he grabbed Watts' hand as he pulled his knife cutting the straps, not caring for the gashes he left in his comrade's forearm.
Watts near collapsed as the ruined gauntlet fell from his arm, his breathing was almost uncontrollable as he leaned against the wall, retching out the rest of Ashley's blood, staring at her shredded body he vomited violently without shame.
Danger and adrenaline helped him recover quickly, he gazed towards Drake who was already scanning their surroundings, with two smoking dents in his chest armour. Watts then realised in his panic, he hit Drake twice. "Shit man. I'm sorry." Watts said still panting.
"Don't be. I'm alive. She isn't though." Drake grunted, motioning his weapon towards Ashley's body. "Get the fuck up, that things still around and these rifles are fucking useless."
Watts gazed at his ruined weapon suddenly feeling very vulnerable. "Sanders, we found it but it got away. Lieutenant Ashley is dead. I'm sorry sir there was nothing I could do."
"I saw everything." His voice bled with pain and anger.
"This thing bleeds fucking acid, we need another way to fight this thing." Drake added in.
"Push it back to an airlock, seal it and get it off the ship. Emmett's sending over some reinforcements."
Watts and Drake were as still as stone, staring at each other in silence for a few seconds. "How the hell are we meant to get that thing back in an airlock? We're down a gun now."
Their options were almost non existent without completely gunning it down and endangering themselves to a hull breach and it was only a matter of time before the creature attacked them again. Signifying their lack of time they heard a guttural growl travel through the corridors, it was still nearby, clearly staying close to its prey.
"Bait." Watts said it almost casually.
"Fuck that!" Drake replied instantly shaking his head.
"You got a better idea? Sanders are there any conventional EVA suits on the ship?" Watts climbed up, his eyes darting in all directions looking for a weapon rack he saw earlier.
"Yeah. Inside the main cargo hold at the rear of the ship but that's a long way from your position, I'll guide you."
Without a word the duo made their way there in a light jog with Sanders providing directions and Drake taking point, his heart jumping at nothing every time they neared a corner. A minute later they entered one of the main access corridors of the ship, spanning the length of the entire vessel. Over thirty foot in height and width it was used to transport all manner of things from the cargo hold to the rest of the ship. Running along its side was an expansive window that spanned along the length of the corridor with the Maivron fully in sight with the umbilical now connecting both ships.
They were halfway towards the cargo hold thankfully without any sign of the alien just yet until Drake tapped Watts on the shoulder motioning towards the other ship. "Shit, looks like the lower hull has been breached." Debris could clearly be seen exiting somewhere on the underside of the ship, then followed by what was clearly an explosion. The popcorn show was interrupted by a growl that echoed through the whole corridor. Turning back they saw the thing that hunted them emerge from the shadows, salivating in anticipation for the kill. Both marines dared not move as they watched its still form and without cause or sound it began to rush towards them.
"Run!" Drake shouted as he fired a burst from his pulse rifle that only slowed their pursuer for a brief moment. They sprinted down the corridor with everything they had and more, never turning around, only hearing death as it closed in on them. Adrenaline and fear powered their legs as their boots pounded the metal floor, the sound thundering through the whole length of the corridor.
Watts' eyes locked to an incinerator that lay against a crate just ahead, if it didn't work they were dead, it was gaining on them by the second and they would never make it in time. He practically slid into the crate as he rushed to pick the flame unit up, praying inside that it wasn't empty, hefting it he heard the liquid slosh around the tank.
Drake turned for one last burst to give Watts whatever time he needed, instantly the alien jumped towards him as he held down the trigger, halting the beast in pain for a brief moment. Without warning his magazine ran dry and it continued to advance.
"Move!" Watts shouted.
Even as Drake dived to the side he could feel the searing hot stream of fire bypass him. Landing hard he began to crawl back frantically, avoiding the heat above him as best as he could. Turning around he saw the alien completely engulfed in flames, writhing in agony as its screams filled their ears. Watts let go of the trigger for a second, hesitant to not run out of fuel. "C'mon lets go!" He shouted above its pained cries as he dragged Drake upwards and they continued to run.
They reached the massive open hatch that entered into the main cargo hold, panting from the adrenaline and exertion. Watts opened one of the crates outside the hold motioning Drake to get in. "We don't have time to put the suits on, get in. Please just fucking trust me." He peaked his head around the crate to see the alien slowly crawl towards them, they had one shot at this. Drake reluctantly climbed in, reluctantly shutting the opening.
With Drake out of view Watts began to step back into the cargo hold, never taking his eyes off the black monstrosity as it stalked slowly towards him. It hissed in anticipation, even without eyes Watts could feel himself being targeted by its otherworldly gaze. For every step the alien's slender, long legs took towards him his heart began to hammer another dozen beats a minute.
The mutual pace continued until Watts' back landed abruptly into the side of an APC, halting his slow retreat he mentally fought his defensive instinct to raise the incinerator upwards. He didn't want to give the alien any excuse to not follow him into the hold.
It halted it's advance at the threshold and lowered itself onto all fours, simply staring at him in silence for a few seconds.
"C'mon you son of a bitch." Watts whispered, watching it stray dangerously close to the crate that Drake hid inside, the only sound breaking the silence was the constant running of the pilot light on the incinerator. His heart leapt into his throat as he watched it elegantly crawl to lean on the crate, it moved its face all over the container, almost smelling Drake inside.
"Come fucking get me! I'm right here!" He shouted but the alien merely glanced at him, hissing dismissively, it's second jaw casually emerged out of its mouth as it ran its palm down the wall of the crate.
Suddenly the droning of the pilot light was no longer, Watt's eyes shot downwards to see his only means of defence become useless.
"Shit."
The alien's head twisted towards him instantly, its second set of jaws fully revealed as its hissing turned to an ear piercing shriek, seeing his vulnerability, it charged.
Watts turned instantly, sliding open the APC door as he threw himself inside rushing to close the door again.
"Seal it!" Watts screamed into his headset as he slammed the door shut, just in time as he felt the alien crash into the door. He could hear the massive door of the cargo hold slide down, trapping the alien and himself inside. He sat in darkness for the next few seconds, the only sounds being his heartbeat thunder into his ears and the alien hammer against the APC, making a clicking sound as it rotated his vehicular sanctuary.
"Watts? Watts! Come in."
"I'm okay, locked myself in an APC, shitty flamethrower died on me. Fuck!" Watts clicked on the flashlight on his shoulder to search the interior of the vehicle and weigh up his options. Throughout his search he could still hear the alien move around his position, when he searched the weapon racks to find them empty he heard it leap onto the roof and finally fall silent.
"Watts," It was Sanders breaking through the quiet. "don't try to make a run for it, the things lying right on top of your position."
"Well thanks for stating the goddamn fucking obvious, is there anything you can do to help?"
"I can open up the airlock and empty the whole cargo hold..."
"Great. Fucking perfect!" He kicked out at the commander's chair multiple times before slumping down in defeat. Unloading the tank from the incinerator he shook it to the sound of fuel still moving still inside, the trouble was just to get the pilot light working. The sparking mechanism was completely broken.
A few tense minutes of silence passed without any communication from anyone and no auditory sign that the alien had moved from the roof of the APC. He tried multiple times to activate the pilot light, the fuel was coming out but no spark to ignite it. He took a deep breath in an effort to quell the swiftly rising panic within him. In a moment of stress induced madness he began to quietly laugh at the thought that being a smoker at this moment might just save his life by having a lighter. His mind also drifted to the thought that the lack of communication from the others signified that they just might be contemplating emptying the hold with him still in it. He knew it was the safer option, why would they risk their lives for him? He wasn't a veteran comrade, he was just the new kid brought in to fill a gap in the team, he could be easily replaced.
"Still with us lad?" Sergeant Smith asked.
Watts jumped out of his sitting position, he thought maybe this was goodbye. "Yes sir, thought you guys were just gonna empty the hold."
"We've lost enough people today. That flamer unit completely out of commission?" Jacobs voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"Can't get a spark for the pilot light sir. Don't suppose you could lend me your lighter."
"Even better," This time it was Camp. "look above the command monitors, should be a first aid kit on the shelf, under it should be a basic survival kit with a flint and striker inside.
"Okay gimme a minute." Watts found the firestriker exactly where Camp described, his heart leapt when he felt his hand grip the cold metal. "Got it." Instantly he was kneeling on the floor striking away, with hope he watched sparks fly towards the incinerator's muzzle. A few strikes later his efforts bore fruit and the flame burst out due to the extra gas produced, wasting no time Watts picked it up and readied himself for facing death again.
"I'm armed but don't think my fuel's gonna last long. What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to make a run for the door when I tell you to." Jacobs said without any hint of concern, it made Watts feel like he was the bait once again.
"You've gotta be fuckin kidding me?" Watt's heart already began racing in apprehension.
"Just trust me kid. We've got a link to the camera feed and that thing doesn't look like it's moving from you any time soon."
Watts didn't realise he left his channel open, he was panting furiously, trying desperately to will his hand onto the door latch. He kept wiping the sweat from his hands but it never stopped, neither did the shakes.
"C'mon, C'mon quit being a bitch." He said to himself. "Okay… fuck! Okay I'm ready."
"Blast it with the flamethrower before you run and don't stop. Listen to me your gonna get through this... Activating the door in three… two… one..."
Watts inhaled sharply as he heard the cargo bay door lift its tremendous weight upwards. With a thundering heart he pulled harshly at the handle, slamming the sliding door into the fully open position. Time didn't slow down, if anything Watt's perception of the situation sped up as he stepped outside. His eyes and the incinerator were glued to the APC's roof, very, slowly taking a few steps back without any sign of the creature. Torn between running and taking it slow Watts sneaked a glance back to see the others. None of them stepped passed the threshold of the door, waiting desperately with fingers on triggers for the alien to appear.
"Keep moving!" Emmett shouted to Watts, his and the rest of the team were looking everywhere, eyes constantly scanning, in the time the door had opened the alien had moved from the APC, it's location now unknown.
Watts didn't turn his head back in time to see the alien, it ran on all fours around the side of the vehicle. Carrying so much speed and momentum it created ragged tears in the floor as it's claws tried to grip the slick, sheet metal, without a sound it bore down on Watts within a few seconds.
He fired the incinerator before aiming, turning the stream of fire towards the creature, wrapping its body with searing hot pain. Enraged and already committed to the attack it flew into him, flooring him as it climbed onto him.
He turned onto his stomach in an attempt to crawl before it grabbed him tightly, pulling him under it. He was pinned under its great weight, a clawed hand slammed his head into the floor when he heard waves of gunfire turn up to full volume. The tell tale cracks of closely incoming rounds filled his ears before the screech of the injured alien as it leapt backwards.
Freed from the oppressive weight Watts lifted his head up to see Jacobs rush towards him, he face bore a growling snarl as he fired his pulse rifle in long, controlled bursts over Watt's head.
"Get up!" Jacobs screamed as he heaved Watts up with one hand, firing another burst before throwing Watts ahead of him as the sprinted to the others.
Neither turned back, it was chasing them down even with the punishment being dealt on it, hearing it's pounding steps and screams of deadly desire they raced to the others. Conditioning and fatigue was no factor, the instinct for survival flooding their leg muscles with vigour as they sprinted for their lives. Their hearts beating war drums in their ears as rounds past mere inches from their heads, neither dared turning their head, to do so was death. The distance to the door couldn't come quickly enough as they could feel the alien right behind them, another few seconds and it would claim them. They closed in on the quickly collapsing door, the covering fire stopped, meaning it was mere feet from them. Running for their lives was nearly not enough, their salvation was already near closing with a few feet of height remaining.
They desperately dived forward to get under the door, landing harshly as they slammed into the floor, rolling their body's sideways for that extra few feet of distance. The sound of the cargo door's hydraulics sealing shut was music to Watts' ears, his lungs aflame as he gasped for oxygen to fuel his exhausted body. He shot a quick glance to the door, realising how close he was to being crushed, he tried to move but it seemed physically impossible to do anything other than lean against the door. He genuinely felt like his heart might burst.
Watt's didn't realise that Jacobs felt the exact same way, too busy trying to catch up with his heart rate and breathing to focus on the circle of faces that filled his vision. Rapid and heavy pounding sounded from the cargo door, causing Watts to summon that last ounce of energy to merely back away. Despite being three feet thick of hardened steel, capable of withstanding all manner of small arms fire the creature was still causing damage. When the banging stopped it began using it's claws, tearing into the door, the action screeching worse than nails on a chalkboard could ever do.
Cringing with the noise Jacobs barked into his microphone to Sanders, still lying on his back with Watts unable to move. "Gloves we're out. Empty the hold."
"Consider it done."
Sirens begin to wail from inside the Cargo hold over a piercing cry from the creature. Gazing at the datapad on Tool's wrist, Jacobs watched the alien's demise with relieved pleasure. The heaviest items, the parked APC's, the storage containers moved slowly, the friction from metal on metal halting direct flight out the hatch. The creature dug it's claws into the floor, ripping up the metal plating as it was dragged back before it flew out the hold at such a speed that it was lost from sight in the blink of an eye.
Jacobs laid his head back on the floor, grateful of the cold steel on his hot, perspiring face as his breathing and heart rate finally began to slow. After a moment of recollection on everyone's part they helped them both up from the floor.
"Everyone okay? Any more casualties?" Sanders spoke through an open channel.
"No more casualties, what's our status with stopping the ship?" Jacobs asked, rubbing his arm, Watts and drake could see the burned gauntlet underneath.
"We're slaved to the Maivron and we are close to stopping, got all the airlocks sealed and we're watching them constantly."
"Open the umbilical, we need to collect the dead."
"Jacobs are you sure you want to..."
"Just open it goddamnit! I ain't leaving them in that hell!" He shouted down the channel.
"Roger that sir."
Sanders cut the channel as the team were left in a silence that Watts and Drake felt like they had no part in, they couldn't understand the level of mourning the veterans felt at that moment. Also feeling that they had only tasted the level of chaos that happened on the Maivron, evidenced further by the blood that covered Smith's armour.
"How many did we lose sir?" Drake asked, instantly regretting rubbing salt on such a raw wound.
Jacobs looked up, his eyes darting between the youngsters with an icy glare clearly biting back his hurt and anger. "There's some maintenance EVA suits near the umbilical, get them on and bring us some standard ammo. You can help pick up the pieces and find out for yourselves."
With those words they wandered back in silence, crawling inside their heads to incubate their own thoughts. The two youngsters still reeling from their first ever taste of battle with such a horrifying and unknown enemy and their failure to save the defenceless Lieutenant Ashley. The others drifting in a fog of memories of their lost comrades, cut down so easily by something that no training could ever prepare them for. Jacobs had no doubts now. He knew he could never leave the Reapers to face something like this. His heart was heavy with the extent of the dead but he could never prepare his soul for the weight of the fallen still to come.