A/N:  So yeah here's a new chapter, I hope you like it.

Chapter Seven: Incursion

Military Airbase - New Mexico Desert (Sector 3467)


For what seemed like several minutes, there was nothing but silence from the Commander's end. Then, very slowly, he replied, "Understood...everyone stay sharp."

"That's all you have to say?"

Trenton could barely keep his mind on the world around him. This mission was taking a turn for the worse every second they stood there. Across the base, Stevenson and Nyles were thinking the same thing.

"Trenton, make your way into the hangar, Nyles and Stevenson, head to the barracks."

All three of them took their orders and moved on, their minds still stuck on the image of an airplane's cabin caked wall to wall with blood.

"Okay, tight formation, prepare for entry on the east side of the hangar," Trenton whispered into his radio.

The seven men followed behind him, their rifles aimed in all directions, cautiously watching their surroundings. Trenton's slammed his backup against the hard metal wall, the door next to him. Without one word the man behind him pulled out a small welding torch and proceeded to melt the lock. Finishing, he looked up at Trenton and nodded. In one swift motion, the man opened the door, Trenton rushed inside with four operatives behind him, leaving one to cover the opening.

Inside, the hangar was almost pitch black. While there had been some moonlight outside, inside there was nothing. Under the night vision goggles, Trenton could make out the green shapes of boxes, two F-18s, and the shape of something he couldn't quite make out, near the Northwest corner of the building.

Without saying a word, Trenton and his team began clearing the hangar. The men under his command had no camaraderie outside of combat, but when in combat their years of experience became apparent. Executing the clearing perfectly, a rifle pointed in every direction, the black operatives moved through the hangar with lightning speed.

Through the soft radio static, Trenton heard four men whisper "Clear". It was all over. Trenton approached what three other men were standing over. Lifting up his night vision goggles, he saw what the flashlight on his rifle illuminated: a pile of at least seven dead bodies.

All of the bodies didn't look like they had been dead for very long, the blood was visibly moist, and the smell was difficult to bear.

"Marines..." Trenton muttered.

One of the operatives walked over through the blackness. It was Evans.

"Whew, damn!" Evans remarked, "Oh, dead marines, shit, that's just great,"

"Look at their skin..." Another man spoke.

Trenton looked closer. The bodies were so covered in blood it was difficult to discern that they were even wearing camouflage but he could see that where the clothing was ripped, it looked almost as though the underlying tissue had taken on a mind of its own. It bulged and ripped through the skin all over the visible body. One man's face stared blankly up at Trenton, the bones of his face having torn themselves through the skin in several places. The man had a single bullet hole in his forehead.

After what he had seen at Black Mesa, Trenton couldn't really call anything he saw "surprising", but this was disturbing, nonetheless.

"Why would they pile up the bodies here, were they in some kind of rush?"

"His jawbone had grown out of his face…"

Trenton's mind was a maze of questions.  Once again, he made himself put his mind back on the mission at hand.  He wasn't paid to think.

"Commander Ryan, Sir," Trenton addressed his CO.

"Trenton?" Ryan replied.

"Hangar is clear sir; we found a pile of dead marines in the corner, their bodies are sort of... misshapen," Trenton reported, "No hostiles yet."

"Understood, proceed with extreme caution," The Commander responded.

"Yes sir," Trenton said, "Stevenson, hangar's clear, how're you doing?"

"Clearing barracks number two," Trenton could hear him whisper over the radio.

"How about you, Nyles?"

"Nyles?" Trenton tried again.

"Nyles?"