Author's Notes: Hey everyone, hope you like this chapter, as always I own nothing but the characters I make up.
At Silver's words they all spun about, their lights and eyes scanning the darkness around them. A darkness which seemed to have grown far deeper and more threatening to Theobald than it had been a moment ago. He thought that he could hear something, or a great many somethings, moving in the darkness around them. He tried to calm himself, this was just like being back in the Ruins, fear created monsters from shadows and innocuous noises. If one let fear dictate their actions then one ended up dead. He took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm. He listened and scan the area around them with his light, nothing. He let out the breath that he had been holding, which was followed by a nervous chuckle.
So much for that. He thought, feeling slightly giddy from relief. Then the creatures emerged into the light.
They were like things from a nightmare. He could not see them clearly in the half-light of the bridge, but what he could see was terrifying. He was not sure of their size, but to his fear-filled eyes they seemed massive, with bodies which were covered with gray shells. Even more horrific was the fact that they did not appear to have eyes. Theobald had only a moment to wonder how they could see without eyes when they lunged forward. Spreading wings which he had not seen before they shot towards Theobald and the others.
Several of them closed in on one of the armsmen who was standing slightly away from the rest of the others. The shells seemed to split in the front and pull back to reveal razor sharp teeth. The unfortunate armsman did not even have time to bring up his weapon, indeed he barely had time to scream, before the things were upon him. Fangs tore through armor as if it were nothing but wet tissue even as barbed tails shot forward to spear him. The man fell, his scream turning to a wet gurgle as several of the creatures swarmed him while the rest continued on towards the rest of the party. The man's death had one positive effect, it shook the others loose from their stunned immobility and they began to fire on the monsters as they rushed them.
Some fell, but it was not easy. The shells of the creatures were tough and it took a number of shots to bring them down. Usually it took two or three armsmen firing at the same one in tandem to bring them down and this allowed others to get closer. The area around Valeris lit up as the tech-priest fired some form of weapon help in one of his mechanical appendages. Theobald had fired several shots with his las carbine, but had quickly slung it and pulled out his plasma pistol when he saw that the carbine was not having any noticeable impact. His first shot went wide, a mixture of his hasty draw and the creature dodging to the side at the last moment. Even as he waited for his pistol to recharge, he strangely felt himself calming.
No, calming was not the right word. He was falling back into the mindset which he had had when he was fighting the Orks back in the Ruins. The fear was still there, but he had learned to force it down, to use it and not be mastered by it and so he was both terrified and in complete control of himself at the same time. So steadied he lined up his second shot. To his great relief the shells of the creatures, which had proven so resilient to the firepower of the others, save for Valeris, literally melted when the plasma bolt hit it. A familiar rush of pride flowed through him when he saw this, the same feeling that he had experienced when he had gunned down Orks. Still, he had also learned not to allow himself to be distracted from seeing the wider situation and looking about he saw that it was a rather grim situation.
While several of the xenos had been taken down there were a number of more shadows moving in the gloom, even worse several more of the armsmen had gone down. Fortunately, the xenos which had brought them down had stopped to feed, messily devouring both the flesh of the men and the armor which had failed to protect them. Theobald supposed that they now knew what had happened to the crew of the ship. That; however, was unimportant at the moment. What was important was getting out of there as quickly as possible. It was clear that they were heavily outnumbered and the creatures would eventually wear them down overwhelm them given enough time and he had no desire to be introduced to the digestive track of one of the filthy creatures.
"FALL BACK TO THE SHUTTLE!" He bellowed out, though the fact that they all had vox beads in their helmets made it unnecessary for him to call out so loudly.
"Smartest thing you ever said Boss-man!" Silver's voice sounded in his helmet.
There was no thought to organization, the survivors simply grouped together and attempted to force their way back the way that they had come. Theobald did not know if the xenos were sentient or not, but either way they recognized fleeing prey and did not seem inclined to let it get away. Fortunately, the corridors were too narrow to allow them to fly and so they could not drop down on the humans from above. Despite this they were still frighteningly fast and it was not long before Theobald heard a scream which indicated that the armsman at the rear of the group had been taken down. Fortunately for the others the ones which brought him down blocked the corridor and prevented the others from continuing their pursuit. This enabled Theobald and the others to put some distance between them.
Though they were running as fast as they could the journey back seemed to take forever. Theobald was jumping at every shadow and sound now, half expecting more of the monsters. Several times he heard things which he thought might be more of them, but he did not wait around to find out. At last they reached the loading bay and for a moment Theobald felt relief, they were going to make it. Then he heard the flapping of wings.
More of the xenos flew up from behind the shuttle and shot down towards the party, their tails extended like spears. Theobald and the others scattered, firing as they did so. One man was not fast enough to get out of the way, but fast enough so that the tail, which would have taken him in the chest or stomach, instead took him in the leg. As he screamed and the xenos lunged towards him Silver, quick as her namesake, shot forward through its open mouth. It struck the roof of its mouth and though she had to release it to avoid slicing her hand on its teeth she held it long enough for it to impale itself sufficiently to cause the blade to burst up through its skull.
Looking around Theobald saw that this group of xenos was smaller and given time they might be able to overcome them, but even as the thought crossed his mind he thought he heard the first group coming down the corridor. They had to get out of here.
"MOVE!" He called to the others. Rolf grabbed the wounded man as Silver pulled her blade lose. The remaining humans finally made it into the shuttle. As it lifted off Theobald voxed the Adventurer.
"Power up the lance." He was going to reduce this wrenched ship and all the monsters on it to atoms.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, things got in the way. I think we can safely not put this one in the win column, better luck next time. Hope you all are well and see you next time.