Parvik and the rest the survivors watched lieutenant Tarqis die through the real time video feed coming back through their headsets. The lieutenant had started to back into the ship, firing in a tight circle at the oncoming aliens. Like the red balls of teeth, these creatures were tough; by the time one of their wildly inaccurate bullets finally collided with Tarqis, he'd fired close to a hundred rounds into the horde. The only impact being a pair of the aliens falling to the ground after he'd riddled their skulls with bullets. Disturbingly, only one stayed down, the other picked himself up after being trampled by the stampede and roared in anger at being in the back of the pack. Just as Tarqis had thrown one of his grenades into the crowd, a bullet struck his kinetic barrier. The force brought his shield down instantly, and before he could do anything else, the lieutenant tumbled to the ground, a large spurt of blood coming out of his right leg. Rolling onto his back, he continued to fire on the aliens, with as much discipline as he could before one of them brought its ax down on the marine and the helmet lost all video connection. The last thing everyone saw was the ragged serrated edge of an ax blade as it rushed towards the camera.
The roars of "WAAAAGGH" echoed through the ship as the aliens started climbing through. Parvik and the others kept their guns aimed at the two corridors that lead down into the mess. Had they more time, they would have welded one of the corridor hatches shut to funnel the aliens down one kill zone. From the armory they'd deployed a pair of portable field generators that created small rectangular kinetic barriers, useful for emergency situations like they now found themselves in when they needed as much cover as possible. They'd also passed around personal kinetic barriers so everyone had a small shimmer of protection, though after watching Tarqis's shield do him little good, Parvik wondered how much good their own would do.
He didn't have much time to ponder that question, the thunderous footsteps of the aliens filled their ship and as the sounds grew closer, he saw the faint dance of shadows in both hallways as the horde descended on the survivors. Parvik leaned against a wall, letting the corner protect him. To his left, Lammus was crouched behind one of the mobile barrier walls, shotgun braced against his shoulder, aimed down the right hallway. Around them, other turians crouched or hid behind cover, a few laid down and poked their weapons around or through whatever protection they had. When the first alien appeared, ragged ax and boxy pistol in hand, Parvik and the others let loose with everything they had. Hundreds of tracers were electronically superimposed on his eye piece, each slicing a deadly path through the alien. Despite the intensity of the fire though, it continued to surge forward for several more long paces before falling forward, its front a mess of dark red blood dripping from hundreds of pinpricks. As soon as it fell, another of the aliens stomped on it body and ran forward, pistol out and firing at the crew.
Parvik saw several sparks appear in the walls and ceiling near their position as the charging aliens in the hallway returned fire, their squat pistols barking loudly with each shot. Chants of "Dakka dakka dakka" filled the air as the aliens fired. The shimmering barrier generators, rated to stand under the withering fire of several mass accelerator rifles were struck several times and promptly shorted out. One of the technicians tried to bring one of them back online, but his own personal barrier flashed briefly as it was struck, and then the technician's head vanished in an explosion of skull and brain matter. The aliens, despite losing several more of their number had stormed out of the narrow halls and were filling the mess. Axes raised, they once more belted out a roar of "WAAAGGH" as several of their number crossed the distance and slammed into the turian's defenses.
The lone marine still with the survivors dunked under the ax swing of one of the aliens, his rifle belting out fully automatic fire into the creature's torso for several seconds before the overheating warnings beeped. Swinging once more and missing, the alien leveled its gun at the soldier and fired several rapid shots. Parvik didn't even see the flash of kinetic barrier before several large bloody holes were punched through the marine's armor and showered a nearby cook with bit of bone and blood. The man only had a second to register that'd he'd been coated with some of his comrade before the alien, gushing deep red rivulets of its own blood slammed its ax into the turian, sending his body flying halfway over the heads of the other creatures as they swarmed the survivors. The cook split in half as he soared over everyone's heads.
As the alien turned to face the others, its head exploded in a geyser of red. Parvik looked to see Lammus holding an overheated shotgun leveled at where the alien's cranium had once been. Parvik was about to say something when a heavy object slammed into his chest, sending him backwards a meter and knocking him on his ass. Wheezing, his vision blurred for several seconds as he felt a heavy weight push on his torso. Blinking, he saw the glassy eyed stare of one of the crew staring right back at him; the corpse's weight gently crushing his chest as Parvik struggled to breath. Pushing the body up to get enough room to get a gulp of air, he got a look at its face: he thought he recognized it as one of the mechanics or techs that worked around the bridge on occasion. Shoving the body to his side, he saw a deep gash slicing diagonally across the dead man's chest, dark blue blood leaking over him and the floor. Groping for his pistol, he found nothing save for empty air and the metal floor.
Breathing heavily as he caught his breath, Parvik looked back to the group. A spectacle of blue gore was all he saw, the bodies of the crew littered the deck, most either missing limbs or were contorted at odd angles that even the most lithe of Asari couldn't achieve. Lammus and another member of the crew, an ensign named Arvan, if Parvik remembered correctly, were the only ones still standing. Arvan was firing desperately at a pair of green aliens as he was backed into the wall, his assault rifle clattering until the telltale beeping the overheat alarm sounded.
The aliens made a deep guttural sound that was suspiciously similar to a laugh as they weathered the fire, trails of deep red streaking down their bodies. Screaming, Arvan tried to club one of the aliens with the butt of his rifle, the plastic polymer smacking the alien across it face with a meaty slap. It in turn obliged Arvan with a swipe of its own boxy pistol which sent the ensign sprawling to the ground. As he tried to turn and fire once more as the rifle cooled, one of the aliens stepped over him. With one swift motion, it stomped his face, caving Arvan's skull in with a sickening squish that could be heard over the fading sounds of battle.
Lammus stood alone, retreating towards Parvik, who struggled to try and stand. He heard another guttural roar as one of the aliens began to swing his ax at Lammus, lunging forward to put more momentum behind the blow. The pilot dropped to a knee and aimed his shotgun upwards. Just as the alien was halfway through the motion, a large fiery blast erupted from the gun and the upper half of the alien's skull vanished in a mix of heat, metal and bone. The beeping of the overheating alarm sounded. From behind the dead creature another alien belted out a challenge and surged forward whirling its ax through the air in a deadly arch. Lammus ducked under the first ax swing, but was caught in his ribs by a lower hand swipe of the alien's pistol. The sound of several more of Lammus's ribs breaking could be heard with an audible crack. Dropping reflexively to his hands and knees, and screaming in pain, he tried to roll to the side. In that moment the alien growled and brought the ax down on Lammus's neck, the momentary sound of metal slicing flesh could be heard before the pilot's head was thrown a small distance by the force, and landed squarely at Parvik's feet.
He looked into the eyes of his fallen crewmate, searching for strength, for fury, anything really to give him the strength to stand and face the death he was sure was to come. He balled his fists, trying to steady himself, but instead, simply wheezed, still winded from the impact. Parvik was still looking Lammus's head when he was picked up by his neck. Choking as the vice grip tightened, he finally craned his neck upwards as he was lifted off the ground, held almost a third of a meter up by a rough approximation. The alien with the smoking ax was holding him, easily recognizable by his wider frame and extra three heads of height over his fellows.
It was staring right into his face was a pair of dull red eyes, surrounding tiny yellow pupils. It brought Parvik closer until his head was practically right next to its mouth, as Parvik struggled to breath, he wondered if the thing was going to try and eat him. The rows of sharp crooked teeth and the smell of rotten meat in the alien's mouth seemed to suggest it'd have little problem biting his head off. Instead, it just sniffed him, made a grunt, and tossed him two meters into the center of a crowd of aliens. Hitting the ground with a dull thud, Parvik heard the thing growl and roar at the others, gesturing with it hand and ax for several seconds. He felt a tug on his arms and saw that two of the turian sized aliens were dragging him down the hall. He tried to kick his feet and wiggle free, but was clocked in the head by a single, powerful punch and went still. As they rounded the corner of the hallway, he had just enough time to watch one of the aliens grab Lammus's body and yank one of the pilot's arm off with a bloody rip. It bit off a portion, chewed twice, and spate out the remains of the arm, grunting angrily as it did so.
They dragged him for several more minutes, out of the ship and through the hanger. As his legs and feet bounced off bits of scrap metal and other pieces of debris, he was thankful for the leg armoring he wore as part of his uniform. With a final bounce he was thrown forward lightly by the pair. One had the arraignment of ax and pistol while the other held a clunky looking rifle, neither seemed to pay him much attention. They only softly growled to one another, gesturing at him a few times before both looking up,and grunting loudly at something. Parvik looked up as well and saw more than half a dozen small green creatures climbing down the wall towards him.
They had large bulbous heads, with a long, hooked noses and pointed ears pinned back against their skulls. Like the larger aliens, these ones had green skin, dull red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. As the group finished climbing down, they scurried towards Parvik, hunched forward, almost dragging their forelimbs along the ground. He noticed that they were quite small, only coming up roughly to his waist by his own rough approximation. They wore nothing save for a few tattered looking rags draped over their waist and several brown wrappings around their wrists and ankles. Apart from one which carried what looked to be a smaller version of the pistols he'd seen the larger aliens use, they held nothing else. They gibbered to one another as they came towards him, speaking in a higher pitched version of the deep grunts and growls he'd seen the larger aliens speak with. He felt their hands move up and down his body and then felt his armor being tugged in several different places at once. Looking around, he saw that they were quickly detaching sections of his armor. He struggled as several tried to hold him down, but he pushed up and scattered the group for a moment. Crouching, he painfully rose and as one of the small creatures came back at him, kicked it reflexively, sending it flying back a half meter or so in a sprawling heap. He heard a rumbling laugh and saw the two larger aliens watching him struggle, their weapons held at their sides as they enjoyed the spectacle. Another one of the small creatures came at him, punching downwards, Parvick knocked it to its hind quarters, his hand aching from the blow. He heard the two laugh more as he did so.
He was about to kick a third when his barrier flashed, something had shot him. Turning around, he saw the one little alien with the pistol aiming it at him with shaky hands. Mentally calculating, Parvik realized sadly that he wouldn't be able to cross the distance in time. Slumping his shoulders in tired resignation, he let the other little aliens approach him and in a minute, they had stripped him of his armor, his eye piece and his omni-tool, leaving only his under clothing. He watched as the little creatures vanished into a hole in the wall, carrying his equipment as bundles in their arms. Behind him he heard the groan of metal as a circular hatch opened in the floor, revealing a one meter wide hole that lead deeper to the ship with a faint rush of stale air.
He was about to say something when one of the larger aliens appeared in front of him and shoved him backwards, feeling a moment of freefall, he then clanged against the side of something metal as he watched the circle of light vanish above him, as he fell and rolled into the darkness below. His body bounced against the walls several times as the tube began to angle slightly, or at least what he'd assumed was an angle, the fall was disorientating and as his forehead slammed into a wall, increasingly painful. His descent continued for several seconds before he rolled out, having clutched his head close to his chest he rolled forward a good three meters before coming to a full stop.
Unfurling himself, he he slowly raised his head to get his bearings. He was in a cavernous room, that he now noticed was considerably hotter than the hanger he'd just been pulled from. He saw several gouts of flame fire out of the floors and walls, crude effigies of the faces of his captors held the wall fires. Chains loaded down with a number of different ramshackle looking goods and weapons moved overhead, dangling their loads via hook. Several of the Turian sized aliens milled around with whips and blades that had serrated edges to them. He'd briefly wondered what their function was until he saw one of the aliens brandished a blade and observed it belching smoke and the edge began to move rapidly. Between the motion and the sound of the blade, it reminded him of the cutting tools used by lumberjacks and construction workers in the city he'd grown up in on Digeris Grunting loudly with the blade to move forward, Parvik obliged, moving deeper into the room.
As he did so, he was able to see past some of the smoke which had half blinded him and saw that he was what could be described as a workshop fused with holo-vid image of old sailing ships that his people used on Palavan during their Age of Iron. Bits of metal and other objects were thrown into large kilns and pots, and were melted down. He saw large metal containers pass by and pour the liquid metal into crude molds roughly in the shape of the guns and blades he'd seen the aliens using. He saw other greenskinned aliens not posted as guards busily going to work at tables, large wrenches turning, oversized hammers clanging, and even one rough looking clamp coming from one of their backs poking and prodding at something in front of it. Further back in the room, several of these workers were busily assembling what looked like some kind of land vehicle, while a pair of the diminutive aliens that had stripped him sprayed the contraption with red paint. Judging from the odd pieces of sharp metal which jutted out, to the oversized and exposed engine, he guessed that it wouldn't be the safest thing to ride in.
While he was curious about these strange sights, what really grabbed his attention was the left and right of the room. Several large cranks were being turned by captives. He'd assumed the later judging by the way the aliens savagely whipped them every few seconds. As the cranks turned, bits of metal rose and fall or moved along the chains. Against the wall though were hundreds of small bars popping out, each manned by several captives, who moved back and forth in a rowing motion, carrying on a slow cadence as several of the smaller aliens beat a massive drum made from the skin of some creature.
Manning the cranks and rowing bars were hundreds of humans
...