The Nemacyst swayed from side to side, dodging every projectile hissing pass. It began to pick up speed, nearly two kilometers per second.
"Kill it!" Kinsley shouted. The Lancer's butt kicking against his shouted as he emptied his clip in an effort to kill the saboteur.
Ever Gear unleashed hell upon the kamikaze. But the Nemacyst wasn't aiming for the deck…
It continued to dive until coming close to the tree line, then it shot straight forward, letting out a death shriek.
Al's eyes widened, he braced himself for the incoming impact. The Nemcacyst exploded, taking out the entire cockpit, and Al. Pieces of the thick viewport and metal scraps began to rain down. And the derrick started to steer off coarse; turning left, crushing down trees in its path.
"What now, sir?" The Major said.
"We wait for Brent to return," Kinsley responded. "He'll-"
An echoing moan cut him off. More trees shifted; swaying left and right. Another Brumak came into view. It spotted the derrick and armed its missiles.
"Everyone jump!"
Without thinking twice, the Gears grabbed what ever equipment they could get and jumped off the twenty foot high rig. At that moment a trio of rockets jetted out from the launcher, and in seconds they hit the vessel, sending it on its side.
The surviving soldiers got to their feet and scrambled for cover; hiding behind tree trunks or diving into the thick undergrowth.
The Brumak, looking premature for its size, advanced toward the overturned rig. It started to look around for any survivors, but without finding anything it began to sniff the air for human flesh. The beast smacked trees out of its way; they snapped and splintered, falling to the floor.
Three Alpha members poked their heads out of the undergrowth, looking around for any of their comrades…and spotted Major Dixon. He was crouched behind a tree trunk, opposite from the Brumak.
From the corner of his eye, the Major also spotted the Alphas. With a series of hand signals, he told them to keep low.
With the thought of death only a few meters away, one of the Alphas disobeyed his orders and took a chance. Popping out from cover he sprinted to the Major's position, making little noise as possible; with his two companions following close behind.
The hulking monster turned its attention when a twig snapped; one of the Alphas had stopped paying attention to the ground, only staring ahead. It raised an arm with a mounted machine gun and took aim. The barrels of the cannon rotated, and within a second a hell storm of orange projectiles tore the trio of Alphas apart. Nothing remained but meat and bone.
Dixon looked away. But he soon realized that this was an opportunity to escape. Keeping low, he ran from tree to tree, hoping not to alert the monstrous enemy.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Where the fuck is everybody?!" Colton shouted.
The group was now composed of Sheppard, Lieutenant Jacob, Gunnery Cruise, Staff Sergeant White, Lance Corporal Culshaw, Corporals Colton and Brandon, PFC Alyssa, the Corpsman and two Alpha members, Corporals Winters and Harper.
Those who were missing were Lieutenant Colonel Kinsley, Major Dixon and six other Alphas.
"What's the plan now?"
Everyone looked to Sheppard; the new leader of the squad.
With a sigh, the Captain answered, "We proceed to Landown. Now, let's move. I doubt that Brumak will stop looking."
The group nodded, in unison, and gathered up their equipment, following behind the scout, Culshaw. The Staff Sergeant took up the rear.
A cluster of clouds hung in the sky. Would it rain?
Please don't rain, Sheppard pleaded.
He and the group continued to follow the leader. Their eyes keeping cautious of the heavy foliage of the forest.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was a sharp pain emanating from Kinsley's back shoulder blades. His eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up. Looking over his shoulder he spotted the cause of the pain.
A piece of shrapnel had pierced his armor and was embedded in his skin, and possibly his bone. Kinsley searched around and found a thick twig. Picking it up he placed it in his mouth and bit down hard as he pulled out the metal. He gave a low groan in his succession.
The last thing he remembered was being thrown into the air when the missiles had hit the rig.
The Lieutenant Colonel could not find his Lancer, but he still had his Snub pistol holstered and combat knife sheathed. These two would have to do.
Getting to his feet, Kinsley heard the moans of the Brumak in the distance. There was no time for pain.
I better find any survivors before anything happens to them, he thought. Better keep watch of Locust patrols too.
He then ran off, hoping to be sheltered by the shrubs.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Culshaw made his way out of the undergrowth and into a clearing. He walked with easy but his senses and instinct were sharp.
Suddenly there was a snap in front of the Lance Corporal, and he immediately took defensive position. Crouching low and shouldering his Longshot and aiming at the foliage ahead.
Lieutenant Jacob was the first from the group to emerge at the edge of the clearing, but halted as Culshaw signaled to him. The Lieutenant turned around and passed on the word, and he too crouched down.
Culshaw turned his attention back to the foliage, sighting through the scope.
The bushes and shrubs shook. A minute later a figure came into view, and the Lance Corporal lowered his weapon.
"So, your not dead yet, sir," he said as he approached the Major.
"Where's the rest of the squad, Corporal?" Dixon asked.
Culshaw turned and blew a whistle. In that instant the Major witnessed a handful of Gears raise from the undergrowth. He smiled to see all his members still alive, but his expression when blank with a couldn't find Kinsley.
"The Lieutenant Colonel isn't with you?" he took note.
"No, sir. And we're missing six of our comrades as well." Winters said. "We've got to go back and find 'em!"
Dixon looked at the masked Gear. "I'm sorry, son, but you're only missing three companions."
Winters took a step back, knowing what that meant.
"Culshaw, you and Brandon search for the Lieutenant Colonel." The Major ordered. "When you find them, or any of the other Alphas, head east. Straight for Landown."
"Aye aye, sir!" The two saluted.
"With your permission, sir," Winters interrupted, "I would like to go with the two Corporals."
Major Dixon thought for a moment, then finally nodded.
The three then sprinted off, disappearing in the thick foliage.
"The rest of you, follow me," Dixon said. "And keep frosty."