Raven stood in the place where he saw almost all the bubbles, it's time. He roared and the bubbles burst and dozens of creatures rushed to the xenomorph nest.
Jason lay with his eyes closed, Veronika cuddled up to him. Suddenly he heard the door at the bottom of the tower open and quick footsteps up the stairs.
He had finished dressing when Yellow burst into the room with something in his hands. He handed him what turned out to be a camera. He looked at it, then played the recording.
It was footage of a large number of these strange yellow- black xenomorphs storming the hive, it was shot from a distance, but you could see that the normal aliens were losing, even if they killed one the yellow liquid jumped to the next alien.
- He thinks these mutants will come here. Veronica said. Jason turned to her.
- We'll be waiting.
There was a lot of guns and ammo left in the base, Jason gave firearms to any aliens who could hold them, then began teaching them how to use them. Fortunately, they quickly learned to shoot accurately and quickly reload.
For those who either couldn't hold their guns or had only one eye on the other side than would be comfortable, he placed them in stationary firing positions with Smartguns.
The base was a little further away from the rest of the buildings and on a slight rise, the only way to the base was the access road, they reinforced the holes in the walls, planted anti-personnel mines, and a motion sensor a kilometer in the direction of the hive.
Jason disappeared into the workshop, taking with him the lift with which they had transported the engine.
Of course, they didn't want to kill all the mutants, there were simply too many of them, especially now that the entire hive was probably mutated, they just had to survive until the engine assembly was completed.
Veronika entered the workshop, Jason was just finishing modifications to the lift. He now had eight Smartguns, four in his hand, and rocket launchers mounted on his back.
- Motion sensors stopped working. They're half an hour from the base. She said.
Jason looked at his tablet which showed the time left for end, equal to an hour.
- Will be hard. He thought. He felt Veronica hug him from behind.
- Promise me you won't let me end up like this. He turned to her and hugged her.
- Do not be afraid. I will not allow it.
There was a foul odor coming from the city.
Jason did some quick math in his head. Assuming there were about as many aliens as humans on the planet, he calculated that if each shooter killed 500, they shouldn't be able to get close. It's unlikely that it will, but you have to hope
He began to organize his forces into defensive positions.
Jason motioned to the aliens, then walked to the front line. Everyone looked away from the city, focusing on him. He looked down the road, it was almost four kilometers long. They stared at the city skyline. Even from this distance, he could see figures flit by
The most striking was the noise, terrifying hisses and roars that carried all the way to the base.
He saw them there, gathering. The longer he looked, the more they grew in number. He had no doubt that they knew they were in the base.
The front ranks began to rush forward as if his gaze was their signal to advance. He didn't even try to estimate their number. Hundreds. Thousands. Too many.
Jason turned to his xenomorphs. Above the roar of the land mines he heard the hisses and roars, beginning their terrible chants as they started down the road towards the base.
Jason moved back to his lines.
- They know no fear! They don't know what it's like to stand shoulder to shoulder with your comrades on the battlefield! Stand together, watch your guns and hold the line!
The roar grew even stronger, and the ground began to tremble slightly under their feet, not only from the constant explosions of mines. They were getting closer.
- The best you can do is all I can ask for. By God's grace, we'll see who sees the sunset.
The entire roadway two kilometers back was now covered in masses of mutants. The idea to mine the road proved fruitful as hundreds of shapes flew into the air. There must have been at least a hundred thousand, maybe even more.
For a moment, a pair of tall xenomorph warriors caught his attention. They began pounding their fists against their chests in rhythm. The other ten quickly joined in.
It was a classic battle tradition, dating back thousands of years, even between species. Something about connecting with companions to create a sense of oneness through sound and physical sensations. It wasn't long before the others joined in. They pounded their fists against the chest.
- Shoot at will as soon as the targets come within range. And shout for help if you are in danger of being overwhelmed
Smartgun turrets set on the rooftops burst forth in streams of bullets, plunging into the front ranks.
The intensity of the heavy weapon fire was sufficient to temporarily halt the advance. There were just too many of them. For every abomination annihilated, three more took its place. While it was no longer a sprint, the pace became a steady, unavoidable progression.
Eventually everyone started shooting. The advance slackened only for a moment, but the pressure and force of thousands of bodies pushing forward meant that they just kept coming, step by step, meter by meter.
- Grenades! Jason roared
If there was one thing that all the little Xenomorphs excelled at, it was throwing things. Able to kill a soldier with a stone, Jason watched with no little awe as the 60 little ones threw two grenades each with astonishing speed and accuracy over a hundred meters.
Hundreds of grenade explosions pierced the advance.
Climbing to the rooftops, the little xenomorphs, using the height to rain down fire on the enemy ranks from above, firing small pistols.
From the smoke and fire of the grenade explosions, a new wave emerged, tripping over each other and the fallen bodies of others, only to try to get to their victims.
Behind them ran two dozen praetorians. Line breakers in every sense of the word.
Now, however, these already intimidating creatures have been taken over by this strange substance. They were covered from head to toe in sickly yellow tissue, with only a few fragments of the original armor showing through the gaps underneath. Their bodies had wounds oozing pus.
- Kill them!
The fourteen praetorians met their final doom when they were torn apart by direct hits. Even so, this left ten relatively unscathed, which came closer and closer.
Now, only thirty meters away, they accelerated their charge.
By focusing their attention on the praetorians, the rest were able to make rapid progress. Though the little xenomorphs on the rooftops released the rest of their grenades, without the combined fire of all the defenders, the waves slowed little.
The praetorians began pounding on the barricades. A few seconds later the rest joined them, all ramming and striking with all their cursed power.
Then the counter on Jason's tablet showed zero.
- Everyone to the ship!
Everyone was know that this was their chance to escape. They all ran wildly as the barricades fell down behind them.
Jason jumped out of the modified lift and ran, all the while firing at those chasing them.
Jason didn't let himself really breathe until he was stretched out on the ship's deck, feeling the ship shudder beneath him as the powerful thrusters launched him into orbit.
They succeeded. They ran away.