Friday, September 19th, 2024
1600 Hours 35 Minutes 26 Seconds
"If something doesn't feel right, even if you can't explain why or what it is, do not ignore that warning. Trust your gut. It knows more than you realize."
That was one of the first pieces of advice I gave Drew back when we first started training. Followed by weeks on end of reminders for him to trust the finely honed survival instincts I was literally beating into him.
It wasn't a lie either. I could count dozens of moments over the years that I had been saved from almost certain death by trusting that unknown intuition.
Yet here I was all the same; blatantly ignoring the very thing that had kept me alive for so long.
My gut wrenched at even the thought of the feeling; of the roiling pit of dread that lay just below my carefully composed expression.
Fucking hell. I should have ordered us back onto the ship the moment we landed.
A deep sigh emanated from me, hidden deeply behind a calming breath. There was really no point in dwelling on that now. Not when our only known retreat was a sixty foot tall ventilation shaft a hell of a ways behind us.
Now normally I'm not one to spoil a surprise, but let's face facts. Nobody, not even Claymore, was all too surprised to learn the alien forces had a secret base hidden away in the Himalayan mountains.
It was like when the world found out Lance Armstrong was doping, or that Kevin Spacey was gay. You had to be a special kind of ignorant to not have seen it coming from a mile off, or at the very least, suspect something might have been there.
The ADVENT we had come to know did not transmit signals to nowhere after all.
Now the sheer size of the damn thing may well have lifted a few eyebrows back at base but come on. This was an alien force with the power to eradicate entire cities at the drop of a hat. Surly they must have developed some form of stealth tech over the years.
Tech like say, oh I don't know, holographic generators to hide the massive ventilation shafts for a secret underground facility.
Generators, that rendered these large and clearly not man-made structures practically invisible from satellite, aircraft, and even thermal imaging, but don't hold up so well against ground base investigations.
Though to be fair, who sends a ground crew to the Himalayas when an alien army is invading?
So to make a long story short, within twenty minutes of being dropped off on the mountain side, Chip's sensors had already located at least three of these alien structures, and based on their size/spacing, given us a rough estimate on the size of the facility below us.
Then came breaking into said secret base without triggering any of the bases alarms, which while complex in idea, honestly proved to be just as simple.
A couple ropes down one of these numerous ventilation shafts, and bob's your uncle. No alarm. No security rushing to our entrance point. Nothing.
By this point we were all expecting an ambush around the next corner, or at the very least a few security turrets. Something, anything really, to confirm whether we had in fact caught ADVENT with their pants down, or if they already knew we were there.
In theory Drew and I could have scouted out the base with our mimic skin. However that idea was immediately axed down by the rest of the team, as it was also to be expected that a base of this size would have some Mutons or Chryssalids, locked doors, thermal cameras, ect. Things we couldn't easily sneak past.
As Ace said so eloquently "I don't fancy having to fight past every single shit stain in this fucking place just to save your asses."
Thus it was decided we would move as a team. One big, loud, MEC-wielding team.
We remained hidden for roughly five minutes. A feat which frankly I was actually quite happy with given the circumstances.
All good things must come to an end though. In our case, the end being a heavily reinforced door that could only be taken out with explosives. Very powerful, and very loud explosives.
"Breaching door on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!"
Despite being positioned thirty feet back, I could clearly see the SIMON shaped charge effortlessly blast the security door clean off its mountings with an almighty clap of thunder.
The noise thankfully drowned out the incessant alarms that had been going off all around us for at least a second or two.
This was not the first time I had thanked every deity known to me for the existence of ear plugs, and lord knew it wouldn't be the last. Lord knows it was hard enough to concentrate in a silent room, let alone an active warzone.
"Move!"
The mental command was not exactly necessary, as Ace and Closure were already on the move before the door even stopped moving, flash bangs in hand, primed and ready for deployment. However it did make me feel like I was being more useful to the squad than just providing mental buffs, and that's what mattered.
Two slightly softer claps echoed out from inside the room moments later as both devices detonated. The two breaching specialist sweeping into the room the instant the sound registered. The two MECs in tow, smashing apart what little of the doors metal frame was left with remarkable ease.
Several rifles blasts, and one retort of Closure's shotgun later, they signaled that the room was clear, allowing Drew and I to move up.
It was no secret we were both greatly annoyed with being relegated to the back of the pack at that moment. The decision mostly made due to my lack of proper weaponry for the job, and my somewhat supportive abilities.
Psionics after all, required concentration to work well, and my Gauss rifles was not exactly the most useful CQB weapons out there. Couple that with the fact that my pistol was nowhere near powerful enough to be used for breaching, and well, let's just say I wasn't really capable of handling front line duties
As such, Drew with his Mag Sweeper was made my official "spotter" for the mission. A fancy way of saying bodyguard, not that anyone would admit it.
We both took note of what appeared to be the remains of a couple mutons and a Sectoid as we walked in. The colored blood the only real indicator of what species they belonged to at that moment.
"Nice work," I nodded, scanning the room for any threats or movement. Pistol held at low ready just in case.
A cheeky shrug was all the response I got from Closure before she made her way forwards once more, gun now permanently held at the ready.
From that point on it was a blur of skirmishes and uphill battles.
Down hallways and through corridors we went. Eliminated enemies here and there as we moved. A well-oiled machine, bringing nothing but death to ADVENT's doorstep.
Even Claymore seemed to no longer lag behind; keeping up with relative ease despite have to eliminate several enemies that tried to flank us.
However it didn't take long for ADVENT to realize what they were facing, and bring out the big guns.
"Cover me! I'm reloading!"
"Frag out!"
"Moving up!"
Our comms channel was by that point, almost constantly filled with call outs and requests. Their frequency and urgency only increasing the further into the base we moved, while the number of enemy combatants, along with power of each unit continued to creep up with each and every step forwards we took.
Sceptiods and Mutons soon giving way to heavier, and physically larger threats like Mectoids, and Cyberdisks.
Grenades worked for a time. The confined hallways doing wonders of the effectiveness of explosives in knocking the mechanized terrors down for the count. Though sadly our grenade number was much lower than the enemies unit size.
Berserkers charged soon us in mass. Their bulk easily filling the entire hallway as they bull rushed our positions. Each rush eating through more and more of our ammo reserves as we were forced to dump round after round into the hulking horrors, least they get into striking distance.
Our progress forwards slowing to nothing but a cover to cover slog within moments of using the last of our explosive weapons. The radio chatter quickly drying up until almost nothing but reload calls could be heard.
"Well this fuckign sucks..." I muttered, leaning back against the solid metallic wall we were currently using as cover.
What seemed like hundreds of rounds impacting the structure moments later. Denting and vibrating the structure to no end, though thankfully not quite punching through it just yet.
"No shit." Drew grunted. Hunkering down next to me as he spoke. "ABBY isn't being very helpful either. Keeps telling me to use explosives when we don't have any."
Glancing out at the spider-like mechanized unit as it reverted back into it's saucer form, I couldn't help but sigh in frustration.
Cyberdisks. Fucking Cyberdisks. This felt like the millionth time one of these cunts had just waltzed out into the open, and blasted our cover to shreds.
The first few times, a rocket, or volly of heavy fire had demolished the monstrous unit moments after it's firestorm had ended. But now, with zero explosives and limited ammo, we had very few options left to take.
Behind us, lay a little over twenty ADVENT units, strewn all across the numerous hallways we had traversed. The hard won results of our burnt ammo and explosives.
In front of us, tucked in tighter than a tick, seemed to be the last security units in the base had to offer. Guarding what Chip has assured me, was the bases main control room. All security and stealth systems would apparently be accessible from there. How he knew all this apparently had something to do with the electrical systems that he had been examining. Didn't really understand it myself, but he seemed confident in his deduction.
Unfortunately for us though, this meant we now had to figure out a way to get past the last remaining enemy unit with what little we had on hand.
A task which consisted of taking out a Mechtoid, two Mutons, and goddamn Cyberdisk, who conveniently had support dones. Thus making any damage we did to it short of total destruction, seemingly pointless.
Peeking out from my wall, I spied the Mectoid providing cover fire for the retreating Cyberdisk. Green plasma fire streaking across several covered areas where they knew we lay in wait.
It was only a matter of time before our cover was reduced to nothing under the hail of projectiles erupting from said Cyberdisk.
"Priority target is the support drones." I miced, glancing over at the two MECs as they tried desperately to hunker down behind anything solid looking. "Center mass hits can overload drones electrical systems. Overload cause small electrical detonation so try to utilize that explosive force to damage other units if at all possible."
"I don't exactly have the range for that kind of shit." Drew sighed, shaking his head as he seemed to sink deep into thought. "God damn ADVENT's self destructing weapons. I would kill for one of their grenades right now."
I blinked as a plan suddenly clicked into place. It was a stupid plan, but then what did we ever do that wasn't toying at the edge of insanity.
"I have an idea!" I called out, grabbing Drew as I radioed the rest of the team. Frantically gathering every bit of energy possible on such short notice. "Get down to Ace and Closure while you still have the chance! Move!"
Even as confusion flashed across his face, his body was thankfully already following through with my mental order. A solid kick off allowing him to cover the distance needed in a fraction of the time anyone else could.
"Alright you asshole." I unslung my Gauss rifle. Readying it as the Cyberdisk emerged from hiding once more. "Let's see if you're as smart as people think."
The disk broke apart moments later to reveal the strange spider like creature that it really was. Guns primed and at the ready. It's spiny mechanized tail whipping up and over it's head, to a small compartment.
A slight tingling sensation emerged as I forced my mimic skin to activate, before swinging out fully from behind cover with my rifle raised. The cross hair of my scope centering onto the green glowing device that it's tail had grabbed.
poom
Any order I could have made was instantly drowned out by the sound of an explosion, and a blinding light. Forcing me to duck back behind cover.
Shielding my eyes momentarily before quickly peeking out from my corner once more, I was pleased to find the Cyberdisk partially destroyed, and it's mechanized tail almost broken off completely.
Both support drones were already wizzing out to begin repairs, while the Mectoid and Mutons began to lay down a blanket of covering fire for their wounded unit.
Kicking myself backwards behind cover, a barrage of plasma beams quickly peppered my position. Each blast easily punching a hole clean through the already visibly damaged wall, though thankfully every single shot was placed well above me.
A brief eruption of fire errupted as no doubt the rest of the squad tried to put the damaged unit down for the count.
The sound of a much heavier metal object hitting the ground, thankfully following shortly after their firestorm ended.
"Cyberdisk and drones are down." Claymore called out, from what I assumed was his position behind Ace and Closure, no doubt ignoring radios due to their close proximity. "Focus on remaining mechanical units!"
The breath I had held onto unknowingly finally expelling itself as the weight I had felt dropped free of my shoulders.
"Alright then, it's now or never Chip." I chirped. Kicking up from the ground to a crouch as several shots from Aces rifle connected with what sounded like a Muton. "Put on a show for our newest member."
"Roger." He radioed back calmly. Slinging his minigun on the side of his Mec as he spoke. "Attention. KMS is now primed and active. Delay any forwards movement, and provide cover fire on remaining enemy personnel on my mark."
A series of hydraulic hisses could be heard as he slowly lowered his suit into a makeshift sprinters start. The beautiful hum of his weapon as it charged slowly building to up to a defending drone.
"Covering fire in Three... Two… One… Mark!"
Even as I threw a wave of hostile psionic energy at the Muton, my eyes remained fixed onto Chip. A giddy sense of exhilaration overriding any desire to aim as accurately as possible.
Explosive is probably about the best way to describe what happened. One moment he was completely stationary, the next a mass of metal and anger was rocketing across the ruined corridor at a speed one would think was impossible for such a hulking mass of metal.
Flames shooting out from his mechanized feet with each step he took, propelling him forwards towards the enemy Mectoid. A brilliant blue glow emanating from the back of the metal mass he wore on his MEC's right hand as he launched a fist straight at the mechanized beast.
It didn't even have a chance. Caught unaware, and completely unprepared for such a bold move, it took the full brunt of Chip's strike directly to the chest. The sheer power of a thruster-infused fist, launching the massive unit back into the wall behind it, with more than enough force to dent the thick metal.
I smiled as the unit failed to move after taking such a destructive hit.
ABBY was probably having a field day informing Claymore exactly what he was witnessing. It wasn't every day you got to see the Kinetic Strike Module in action after all.
The immensely destructive combustion assisted striking module, while available to all MEC units, was incredibly rare to see used in combat due to the close proximity it brought you to the enemy.
It sounded good in theory. Increased movement speed via rocket propulsion, allowing user to execute hyper lethal close quarter hits for a fixed period of time. That was until many found out it required a substantial cool downtime, and refueling between uses.
Despite these drawbacks however, I couldn't help but marvel at the effectiveness of the weapon each and every time he used it. Such a simple, yet brutally effective tool. It was no wonder Chip saved it for tight-knit situations like this one.
The blue glow of his Strike Module continuing to burn brightly as he turned and rammed the mechanized fist directly into the only remaining enemy with a vicious roar. Whatever shots it got off styreaking wildly off target as it succumbed to the negative energy of my Psionics.
"Holy shit." I heard Drew mutter my private comms channel. "And I here thought Psycho was the crazy one."
"He is," I chuckled, glancing over to the mechanical suit of our other mechanized unit. "Gotta hand it to him though. That was one hell of a closing statement."
You could practically hear him nodding in agreement, before moving up with everyone else to the door, and subsequent hallway we had fought tooth and nail to reach.
"All cable and tubing is leading us in that direction," Chip explained briefly, pointing to one of the many holes in the wall where cables and other tubes could be seen running rampant. "Whatever powers or runs this facility must be through here."
He started forwards before any of us could protest or argue against it. Forcing us to follow after him as we descended into what had to be the heart of this facility. Something I was both thankful for, but also incredibly worried by.
It wasn't something that could be explained with words after all. It was just a gut feeling. A primal instinct telling me to stay away. To retreat for the time being.
An incredibly impossible dream to be sure. We were Lockdown after all. We couldn't just call for backup. We would either complete the mission, or die. Such was the burden we carried.
It did not take long to reach our destination, and even less time for us to realize something was incredibly wrong.
The room we found ourselves in was not however, a control room like Chip had predicted.
More of a brightly lit laboratory of some kind. Such was my best guess anyways, given the plethora of hallways and doors leading out from there, surgical tables, and massive plexi tubes filled with strange green, orange and yellow liquids which lay scattered around the vast space.
That and the smell. The disgusting combination of stale air and flesh. A smell I had hoped to stay away from after my encounter with the the Chrysalids.
"Spread out," I whispered, drawing my pistol. "Do not leave this room."
Fanning out, we each went in a different direction. Checking under tables and around tubes to make sure no nasty surprises lay in store for us.
It was about the fourth table in however, that I discovered the first of many bodies. A grotesque mutated mass of flesh that strangly resembled a human form.
Other tables contained clearly alien species, some I had never even seen before, while a few contrined what seemed to be human beings.
Most were to disfigured to know for sure, others were still mostly still in one piece, however each and every single one was in various stages of being pulled apart. Various expressions, from anger to pain, etched into their faces. Organs and what had to be medical tools left lying around, all clear indications of a hasty retreat from the area. Experiments, left to die or rot. Dozens, maybe more just in this one room.
Just how many people had died here….
Worse still, many of the tubes showed signs of life as well. Several of them with things moving around inside their murky depths. A fact I was both deeply concerned about, but not willing to think about all to deeply right then and there.
Glancing around to the rest of the squad, I couldn't help but agree with the pale faces that many of them displayed. Had it not been for the immeasurable levels of brutality I had been exposed to over the past years, I probably would have hurled after seeing the first table.
No one needed to say it. Even to a blind man it was clear we had uncovered the likely fates of the thousands who had been abducted over the years.
Tortured. Experimented on. Kept alive until no longer useful. Nothing more than fucking lambs to the slaughter.
Once innocent individuals cut open and examined. Played with by a race of psychotic aliens who did not understand the meaning of the word humanity.
"Progress demands sacrifice New One. That is the law of the universe."
Spinning on heel, bringing my pistol to bear on… nothing. Air. Empty space.
"Form up!" I shouted, scanning the room for anything unusual. "There's a Psion here!"
Any response they may have given me being drowned out by the incessant internal speech of whatever being was down here with us.
"Such interesting creatures you humans are. So small and helpless. Unable to fight back without our help. Yet within you lies the key to that which we have sought for so long. Curious that such strength can be found in even the weakest of species."
"Coward!" I grunted, frantically searching high and low for the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"
"An insect demanding an audience with a god. How amusing. Though I suppose it's only fitting the strongest of your race be the ones to first meet your new masters."
A bright series of flashes emanated from one of the locked doors nearest to me; illuminating the entire room in a shower of pulsing purple light as the rest of Lockdown rushed over to me.
The door suddenly sliding open, and from it's depths came a vicious blast of crackling energy.
Whatever thoughts I had were instantly erased as the attack bowled through me like a bull in a china shop, throwing most of us back a considerable distance and knocking both MECs off their feet with ease.
I landed flat on my back; the force knocking what little air there was left in me out with surprising force.
"Come now. Is that really all you have to offer?"
A low growl escaped me as my hand went to my holstered hand canon. Pulling the heavy weapon free, and with zero hesitation, turned it to the door we had been attacked from.
Regal was the only way to describe the creature that now stood, no, floated before us.
Adorned in ornately decorated red robes that flowed over every part of entire body, and a shining silver helmet that obscured it's entire head, it certainly looked the part of leader. More concerning for us however, was the soft purple glow that seemed to envelope it with such brilliant ease. A simple, yet terrifying display of it's no doubt incredible psionic power.
I could feel my throat tightening with each second I spent examining our new enemy. The fear I felt no doubt palpable in the face of this new threat.
"Such a crude weapon. Come. I will show you the futility of your actions."
A direct challenge to me? Just what the hell was this thing's game?
Glancing around at the rest of the squad as they all tried to recover and retrieve their own weapons. It was now or never then.
Taking careful aim, a brutal cry erupting from deep within me as I pulled the trigger on my favored weapon.
Boooom
ta-ping
Disbelief, confusion, and ultimately, dread washed over me as I watched the bullet meant to take this fucking creatures head off, simply ricochet off it, and into the ceiling above.
There were many things I knew to be possible. Mind control. Genetic augmentation. Artificial intelligence. but that...
I knew the math behind that projectile. I knew that the three-hundred-gain bullet traveled at a little over two thousand four hundred feet per second, and delivered twenty eight hundred foot pounds of energy into the target.
To simply deflect all that without any repercussions… Just what kind of monsters were we now dealing with?
"Do you understand New One? The insignificance of your actions in the face of the Ethereals?"
My lungs struggled to take in air as this creature, this Ethereal, slowly floated over to me. Each tile passed over crushing more and more air out of me.
"You were close new one, but yo…"
A stark familiar laugh broke out. The strange yet comforting sound quickly shattering whatever mental hold the thing had over me.
Claymore. The fool.
"Ethereals huh," He chuckled, slowly working his way to his feet, weapon in hand. "What a stupid fucking name."
"Such courage even in the face of overwhelming odds. Pointless, yet admirable."
Slowly it floated past me and towards him. Passing by me seemingly without fear of being shot at.
"Tell me human. What gives you the strength to stand before me and find the humor in it?"
"Simple," He stated, standing tall in the face of his enemy. "Unlike you, I'm not fighting alone."
"How amusing. Allow me to correct you."
A flash of purple light erupted from him, followed by the distinctive sound of a shotgun being cocked echoing out right behind me.
"Now. Kill the new one, Holly Catherine White."
Hello once again.
It's me. Alex. Miss me? I missed you all.
So I am very sorry for how long it took to upload this chapter. But well, I ended up having to re write this chapter three different times in order to get it right. Or at least as close to right as possible.
Even then, without my favorite beta read Xabiar to rein me in, I doubt this chapter would have ended up being even half as good as it did. Big shout out them them as they work tirelessly to help provide you with the quality content you have come to expect.
If you did enjoy don't forget to leave reviews and the likes. Always helps keep my drive to write up, especially given the busy upcoming school year.
Cheers for now, and see you all next time
Alex Lee
