XXXIV

Malicious Roar

Seventh arrived just in time to see the damage that had been inflicted, honestly he felt a huge surge of relief when he learned that Bando still hadn't died and in fact had managed to kill so many men and keep them at bay while making his escape. Truly it was wondrous news to his ears, it seemed that his opponent wasn't planning to go down without a good fight.

Even better was when he was informed that even Ninth had failed in taking out the enemy and had taken a good beaten herself in return, though for now, he preferred to keep that little nugget of information to himself, without a doubt that fiend of a woman was likely fully aware that he was the one taking satisfaction in her failure. 'Serves you right.'

Surveying the scene he was left wondering which direction the intruders could have taken, the men had been right on their heels but the throwing of a pair of grenades at the last moment had thrown them into utter disarray. Those crucial seconds might have well been used for them to feign their escape. "Did any of you fools saw where they were heading to?"

As to be expected the men had different answers each, likely the only ones that could provide him with a solid answer were those at the front and unfortunately they had taken the worst of the explosion. It was going to be up to him to find out where they went.

Ninth approached him from behind. "So you have finally decided to show up, what has been taken so long?" She did not appear to be particularly happy to see him but the feeling was mutual. It could wait for now, as he much as he wanted to get the kill for himself he was becoming aware that the current development of the situation was not starting to look good for him either.

"I was busy in tracking down information regarding our intruders, the ones that you seem to have been following appear to be less interesting but the other one they brought with them; a member of this country's special forces. Don't underestimate him."

There was no reply from Ninth but Seventh knew that she had heard him, well now it was going to be interesting to see how she was going to react to it. There was the risk that much like him she was going to be interested in fighting him, not ideal but certainly something he could work with. 'When you're busy fighting him you won't look behind.' He grinned in response to when the thought came to the front of his mind.

"I do not need to any information from you L's imbecile, I will deal with that man my own way. Now you go and make sure that you find them before they manage to get away. First will be very displeased when he hears that you failed to manage the security on this ship, as will our contractor." And with that, she left him, not even as much as granting him a foul look.

He bit back a retort, no need for him to lose it over something that trivial. Their contractor meant nothing to him and he was certain that he could convince First that what had been going on wasn't entirely his fault.

With her gone for the moment, he turned his attention back towards the more important matter at hand, finding out which route the intruders had taken and cut off their escape. If he wasn't mistaken there was a small exit point nearby though it led only to the upper deck, hardly a route that he would pick himself as it offered almost no protection. It seemed risky but then what if they were exactly counting on that to make their escape, they surely could cover more ground that way and the exit points on the upper deck were less guarded than the lower ones.

"This is Seventh calling all snipers!" he shouted through the radio, with their communications back online he was going to make the most out of it and coordinate their forces. "Intruders might be using the upper deck to facilitate their escape, permission to shoot them on sight but do not kill them!" Several teams were stationed up above on the bridge offering them a clear field of view. They were not going to escape him this time.

"You there! Put your backs into it and clear this fucking debris now!" he yelled towards those men that had already been tasked with clearing the corridor. "I want it cleared within two minutes! If they escape because you didn't clear the corridor it will be on your heads!"

Undaunted he stepped forward and started to pull away damaged pieces, he wasn't going to be denied his prize. Least of all he was not going to risk losing it to these fools that had been assigned to provide security. The guard detail was less than acceptable in his opinion.

He would use them as he saw fit, they were just hired hands, lowlifes who deserved to die anyway so he wasn't considered with their well-being. Following his threats, it seemed that the men had redoubled their efforts, their progress going faster than he had dared hoped for.

In moments they would be able to get through and then continue their route towards, that was until they all heard it; a terrifying scream that made their blood run cold, it came from outside.

Hot blood splattered across his face and chest, to Sakai it seemed that everything moved in slow motion all of a sudden, his mind still trying to cope with the insanity of the situation. Kanzaki who was screaming for his dear life was still being held into place, gasping for air in desperation as his body struggled to overcome the trauma it was experiencing.

"Bando! Help him! For God sake!" Sakai yelled for what it was worth, his mind kept telling him that it was already too late to save the man but he refused to believe that. It couldn't just end up like that for him, the man had a family to go back to. He refused to accept this.

"It's no use! Forget him, he is gone!" Bando shouted back in return, he already was painfully aware that there was no more hope, with an injury like that there was no amount of medical care that could save Kanzaki anymore. It was nothing short of a miracle that the man had not been killed where he stood, even so, Bando could feel that something immensely strong was starting to lift the three of them up, even with the two of them trying to hold down Kanzaki it was pointless. "Sakai! Let go of him now! Do it man or you're dead! You hear me?! Fucking dead!"

Screaming for his life the injured man was lifted into the air, what strength he could still muster to struggle was in vain as whatever it was that was holding him was much stronger.

Reaching higher into the air Sakai saw to his own disbelief there was an entire tentacle or a tail attached to whatever it was that had pierced Kanzaki's chest, the way it resembled something unnatural sending shivers down his spine as he felt a sense of disgust wash over him. The long sinuous tail raised him high in the air to the point of them thinking he would be pulled into the bottom of one of the overhead cranes.

"What the Hell... is that Bando…?!" Sakai cursed underneath his breath as all of a sudden something in the shadows moved and as it appeared from beyond the cover offered by the machinery they could all see the gruesome monster to which the tail belonged.

"Sweet mother of God have mercy on us," Sakai whispered underneath his breath as he offered a quick prayer as what he was looking at was a monster plucked from his darkest nightmare. No, this thing was even worse than that as it was very real, its faceless head staring back at him, a head devoid of any features, and a wide malevolent grin seeming to mock what remained of his courage. No words that he could come up with were able to describe the utter sense of dread he was experiencing at the mere sight of this thing, this horrible abomination that defied everything.

As they watched in disbelief at what was happening long sinuous tendrils emerged from its chest, snaking their way over the impaled man, wrapping themselves tightly around him.

Barely able to scream or thrash around in his desperate struggle the man's suffering was ended. With a sickening sound, his body was torn in half, both halves landing with a wet thud on the deck of the ship.

"KANZAKIIIIIII!" Sakai screamed for what it was worth as he saw it happen before his eyes, a tidal wave of hatred washing over him as the lifeless eyes of the man were staring back at him.

All that was on his mind was to kill this unholy beast and to exact revenge for the death of Kanzaki, he swore then and there that he would not leave this place until that thing was death.

He had to swallow. "… Bando, be straight with me. What the hell is that thing…?"

"You remember that massacre you found at that abandoned factory complex just north of Koshigaya? Well, you're looking at the damn thing that caused it!"

"What the fuck do you mean it caused that?! What is it?!

As it landed on all fours, the steel of the upper deck buckling underneath its bulk Bando froze on the spot, its armored head staring right back at him. 'Fuck, to think that damn abomination is here as well?! How the hell did it even get here?! Why the fuck isn't it dead?! It took a fucking RPG to the head!' Oh, this was so not good, he didn't have anything heavier other than the last remaining grenade and that sure as Hell wasn't going to help unless he was going to be able to shove it down its throat and even then he had his doubts that it would do the job.

Its jaws opening wide, jagged fangs greeting them, it let out a loud roar, sure enough to him, it felt like it was pretty pissed. Well, in that case, the feeling was mutual. 'Fucking beast! Don't even think that I've forgotten what happened back then! This time you won't get to walk away!' Though it was easier said than done, he also hadn't forgotten what it had been capable of. Dammit to think that it was alive and here, this was the worst possible outcome.

Even though he had been having a growing suspicion that it was behind all of the weird events he still found it hard to believe that he was staring it in the face. Out of all the places he had to run into it, it just had to be on this damn ship.

But they needed a change of tactics, with this thing here there was no longer a chance of them making it out alive by just running. It was going to catch them in no time and then tear them to pieces like it had done to so many others, no just running wasn't an option anymore but neither was taking it on in a direct head on confrontation. It was too strong and too dangerous for that, it would tear them apart before they even so much as had a chance to fight back.

Hissing at them they took a careful step back.

"Sakai, we need to go back inside," Bando whispered to said next, hinting at one of the doors somewhere behind them

Sakai nodded in response, he was thinking the same thing. Even though he wanted revenge he wasn't going to risk his life in a fruitless frontal attack. "I agree, got any ideas? I'm open for suggestions?" Slowly but certainly they took another careful step back in an effort to put more distance between themselves and the beast though it was likely a futile gesture.

So far it didn't seem to respond to their movement, just standing there with its head moving from left to right as if it was deciding on who it was going to kill first. The lack of any facial features really gave it an unnerving presence as neither of the two men could figure out who it was looking at, devoid of said features their attention was drawn to the jagged fangs which promised nothing but a horrible death at being torn apart.

"We can't go the way we came, we'll run headlong into those guards and they are bound to shoot us on sight. Though I'd guess that we'd stand a far better chance against those guys than against that thing," Sakai remarked, his hand hovering over the holster when he reminded himself that he had given the pistol to Kanzaki, dammit, he was unarmed at the moment. "Bando, I don't have a weapon on me. I'll need to find one. Do you have sight of any other way for us to get inside?"

"Working on it." Bando on the other hand still had plenty of weapons with him even if he had expanded most of his ammunition during their fallback. He still had some left for the assault rifle and the shotgun still had one full clip remaining. Even so, it wasn't going to do them any good and he doubted that it was going to give them a chance to make that move. They needed a distraction and they were going to need it right now.

With a loud bang, the door was flung from its hinges, landing on the deck with a loud metallic clang. His hands still covering his ears Seventh signaled for the first group to storm forward.

They had used an explosive charge to blow the door off its hinges as it had been locked. It would also allow them to seize the initiative and force their heads down.

"Time for you all to die, you had better not disappoint me mate, I would hate to see you get taken down by a mere bullet!" Seventh bellowed as he strode forward, rifle in hand.

He was becoming impatient for the upcoming fight but just as he was about to stepped forward two of the men who had gone in first were slammed against the opposing wall compartment and smeared across it in a bloody paste. Barely did he have time to blink or a third man standing at the corner was sliced open from head to groin.

"What the fuck?!" The men behind him cursed as they all witnessed it happening, had the intruders just done this. No, that wasn't even possible, this was something else.

He sneered, his hand reaching back. "Pull yourself together you useless pieces of shit! Now get out there and fight, you bloody cowards! Or I'll shoot you myself!" Barely had he finished with issuing his threat or the weapon was already in his hands, a fresh magazine slammed into it, and the safety off. Anybody that dared to make a wrong move now would get it.

They really were useless. "You fucking spineless cowards! Get moving now!" he snapped at them, enforcing his words with vicious lashes from the butt of his weapon. These men would go forward one way or another, he didn't care about which one. "Move! Move! Move!"

As the first ones moved forward so did he, he wasn't going to wait idly and let his prize get away. The glory was going to be his and his alone. "Bando!" he roared at the top of his lungs.

But as sudden as their second charge had begun just as sudden did it falter when it was confronted by the new and unexpected foe arrayed against them. Seeing the horror they were facing the men came to a sudden hold, their courage stripped from their bodies.

Blood seemed to be all over the deck and the mangled remains of a man torn apart were clear for them all to see but what truly terrified them was the monstrosity that was staring back at them. It was a sight that none of them could believe.

Except for Seventh, he knew exactly what his eyes were telling him and honestly he wished that they were lying to him. Damn this night seemed to be becoming a repeat of his last encounter, now even this monstrous thing was here. "Oh fuck that!"

Honestly, it was the last thing that he could use right now, this changed the entire situation.

"Call for back-!" Not even getting to finish his order several of the men behind him died, their heads simply sliced off in a blur of movement and then it attacked. Rearing up to its full height it threw its head back and led out a malicious roar that echoed throughout the night sky.

Neither Bando nor Sakai wasted any time when the opportunity had unexpectedly presented itself, exploiting the confusion and hesitation of the enemy troops they broke into a run and made a mad dash as fast as their legs could carry them, putting as much distance between themselves and the beast before it would turn its murderous attention back to them.

"Just keep running Sakai! Don't look back unless you want to die!" Bando shouted, praying that his injured leg wasn't going to give out on him just yet. Already the painkillers were starting to wear off and he wasn't keen on that prospect, not at a time like this.

"I know! As if I need to be told that! You just mind your own or do you think I hadn't noticed your leg?!" Sakai snapped in retort to that taunt as if they had time for that now. Behind them, they could hear it roar but the sound of men dying made it clear that for the moment its attention was shifted more onto the mass of men instead of the two of them.

"I sure hope this will buy us that time, if that thing comes after us we'll end up like those sorry bastards!" he wasn't looking forward to that, already the screams told him more than he wanted to know, he had seen what had happened to Kanzaki and did not wish to share a similar fate. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he was feeling a modicum of pity for their opponents, he did not wish for such a cruel fate to anybody, to be torn apart alive.

Just up ahead a door came into sight, a way out for them. Bando got there first and as Sakai passed him the door was hurriedly slammed shut as fast as he possibly could, locking it before jamming a metal rod to prevent it from being opened again. He didn't dare to look through the glass of the porthole for fear of seeing it staring at him or for that matter having his head punched through by that spiked tail.

As a few tense second went past he slowly backed away from the door, they were inside the confines of the ship again but he rather faced normal men armed with guns than to face that thing again. That said he still wasn't entirely at ease as he now knew how it had killed those people, those tentacles that came from its chest were how it had reached out and killed those men. He didn't know the exact extent of their reach but he guessed that it had to be pretty far, they certainly had to be on their guard.

Reaching a far corner he saw Sakai standing there, leaning against a bulkhead trying to catch his breath. "We don't have time to rest, slaughtering those people won't keep it busy forever!"

It seemed that the stress and exhaustion were starting to take its effect on him.

"I need a moment, alright?! I can't keep running like this! Tell me, Bando, what exactly is that thing?! You met it before, right?! What exactly happened at Koshigaya…?"

It grew silent not only outside but also between the two of them, perhaps it was better to tell Sakai and let him know what they were up against and yet perhaps it would be better for him not to be fully aware of the horror that was stalking them. If he knew what that thing was capable of, would it shatter his mind, would he be overcome by despair and just give up?

"It might be better for you not to know, too much shit went down at that place. You've read the body count they found there right? That should tell you enough. Now pull yourself together, we need to keep moving and a find to escape from this deathtrap." He looked around in an effort to try and orientate himself as well as finding a way out of here.

"I still need to know, that thing killed one of my men. It tore him in half like he was a piece of paper. That thing isn't natural, I need to know what we are up against!" Sakai rebuked, running around blindly wasn't going to help them, they needed a plan and the only way for a plan to work was to know what one was up against. "Unless we figure out what it is and what it wants then neither of us will manage to get off this ship, we'll just end up like those bastards out there trapped with that thing. I don't want to end up like Kanzaki, he didn't deserve it either. He was a good man, honest and always diligent. Why did it have to be him?"

It was difficult for Bando to answer that, he did have to agree with Sakai that knowing what it was capable of was going to help them but to be honest he didn't know all that much other than what he had witnessed for himself that fateful night.

"There isn't much to tell, only that to encounter it is to face death. This thing isn't natural, bullets bounced off from its hide, some kind of armor if you ask me. It spits some kind of blue bolt of energy that eats through metal and even a direct hit from an RPG wasn't enough to finish it off. Oh, and it tears through people like a fucking meat grinder."

Sakai kept listening as more and more information was divulged from Bando, he was also starting to get a picture of what really happened that night and found himself agreeing that Bando had been a lucky man to have survived all that.

Even then it was becoming clear to him that this new opponent they were facing now was unlike any other that he had encountered in the past, this wasn't a mere person who could be frightened into surrendering or taken down by a well-aimed shot. Their opponent was something far more terrifying, something that did not have any right to exist.

Sakai considered their options. "Running is only going to help as long as there are other people to keep it distracted for long enough, you don't suppose our enemy is dumb enough to keep doing that, do you?" he asked though he was being sarcastic about it.

Neither did Bando consider it, no he didn't believe that the Seventh was going to be that stupid, the man was a proficient killer. Not a bungling thug. "I doubt it, likely they'll do their best to cordon it or to have it go in our direction and let it kill us. I know that I would do the same for sure."

"Agreed, we shouldn't count on being lucky. I think it would be best for now if we were to keep ourselves away from any large areas that it could use to gain an entrance. Secondly, we need to gather weapons and ammo, we are definitely going to need them."

There was no mistake, they could try and avoid it as much as they wanted to but the real risk existed that at some point they would cross paths with it again and then it was going to be one Hell of a fight if they wanted to have a chance to escape. What they really needed was something to help even the odds in their favor. "Do you think it will be possible for us to set a trap?"

Shaking his head Sakai explained why, with the way the ship was built it was going to be difficult to find a suitable location not to mention that with just the two of them it was nearly impossible to get one set up in the short time they had left.

"Right, I have rested enough, for now, Bando we should get going further. Care to take point?" Sakai let out a cough and then straightened himself out. "I don't have anything left, expend as few bullets as possible on the first guys you come across." He would need a replacement weapon, he was going to need it to defend himself. With Bando taking the lead they moved further back into the depths of the ship.

Blood dripped from the laceration in his arm, well he could have come out far worse and he would have if he had stood just a few inches more to the right. Seventh coughed as a surge of pain flared up his arm again, damn that thing had managed to hit him good alright.

"Bloody damn nothing, didn't think I was going to make it out of that mess. Damn, it sure got me good there." The arm was going to hurt for a while but at least he wasn't going to have to worry about losing it, he was still finding it hard to believe that he had made back alive.

"I wonder who else survived? I had better get on the radio and contact Ninth, this situation is getting out of hand. We need to reevaluate our options and come up with a new strategy."

Unfortunately, his own radio had been destroyed during the fighting, he would need to acquire a new one and make contact at once. But first he needed to tend to his wounds, luckily a medical room was nearby allowing him to quickly take care of that.

He wondered though where exact the man Bando had fled to, he had run in the same general direction as he had but Seventh wasn't sure if he had taken the right door. Well from where he was standing there were only a few routes that could be taken any way but nearly all of them lead to the main holds.

Likely that was where he has going to find his prey though he reasoned that they would do their best to avoid large open spaces where that thing could gain access to. He felt that it was best to do the same, the more he could avoid it the better his own chances were.

"Why exactly would you be heading in that direction? You seemed Hell-bent on finding a way off this ship. Even with that thing out there you would've been smarter to have turned the other way, you'll never get off the ship this way." He wondered why but he felt that it was likely for a reason that his quarry was heading in that direction.

They were not the kind of people to roam around just aimlessly, they had already proven that. Which meant that if he kept following their trail that it would eventually lead him to them, well if that was the case then he had better pick up the pace and get to the medical room quickly so he could tend to his injuries and then get back following the trail before it ran cold.

"Don't think that I'm going to let you escape me that easily, I simply kill you and then I get off this ship. Ninth can stay and get killed or die trying. For me, I'll just walk away with the glory," he grinned, all that he needed to do was to stay alive long enough for his plan to work. Not his best plan to date he admitted but given the circumstances, it wasn't that bad either.

Moving was difficult, taking steps was rather painful, likely he had been hit harder than he at first thought. "I could certainly do with a good doctor right now, shame we have none of that on this ship. No, wait there is one. Deep down below in the cold storage rooms. Fuck, I can't reach that place from here, dammit," he cursed.

Well, that meant he would need to take what he could find of painkillers and take them all. The last thing that he could use right now was to get slowed down by something as irritating as pain. Giving into his own pain was only going to see him end up dead, either at the hands of Bando, that abominable thing or the mercy of Ninth. He wasn't keen on any of them.

"Like Hell, I'm going to let myself end up like that, none of you will get the better of me. You heard me," he scoffed, his anger fueling her strength as he kept on going. This was all far from over, he wasn't going to go down that easy. He was a survivor.

"What do you mean contact has been lost with the forward elements?! I thought that communications were reestablished again with all groups?!" Ninth demanded as she clearly displayed her irritation, this certainly wasn't the kind of news she had been wanting to hear.

"They are madam but we simply can't raise them, they simply won't reply," the man informed her, trying to explain that once it came back online that there was nothing wrong with the communication network. He even offered the suggestion that the forward elements had been taken out though it was dismissed on the spot as being ridiculous.

"I do not need to hear excuses or fantasies! I want to know what exactly is going on down there! We have an assignment to carry out!" She was getting really impatient by now, surely Seventh should have taken in the last of the intruders and finished them off. Why was it all taken so long, the longer they stayed here the bigger the risk of something terribly going wrong and already enough had gone wrong?

The ship needed to go back to international waters, so far there appeared to be little damage and what had been caused could easily be fixed while they were at sea. They didn't need a dock for that, all of the material could easily be flown in by helicopter. "How far are the preparations complete? How much longer will it take before we can depart and leave?"

The man was prompt with his reply in an effort to placate her growing irritation. "In less than an hour madam, the last of the documents are being taken care off with the harbor crew. We are expecting no trouble in acquiring clearance to depart madam."

Some good news for a change, once the ship was on its way they could afford to use less subtle manners to deal with the intruders. Being in the harbor offered both advantages and disadvantages, one of which was that they needed to avoid attention. That was going to take care of itself soon enough and then they could look in hunting down the intruders using some more effective means until then she was going to have to wait and let Seventh handle the mess.

"Keep me informed when we are cleared to depart, I will be going back to see how the work is proceeding downstairs." With a click of her heels, she left the bridge, going down the stairs and towards the area where she had last seen Seventh and the men giving pursuit. It was going to be a while before she would eventually get there but that also offered her some time to come up with a suitable punishment should they have screwed up.

"I gave that bâtard odieux just one job, a rather simple job at that. Now I wonder how much he has messed it up even further. Even someone like him should have been able to deal with these intruders," she remarked to nobody in particular and fortunately for them, nobody even dared to speak back to her, for their sake it was best if they kept it like that.

She halted at the door. "Let me be clear mon gars, if any of you mess up as well I will be coming for you next. Not get back to work!" And with that threat she left the bridge, taking a considerable delight in the fear that came from the men present, she reveled in it.

"He had better not have screwed any further, the First won't be pleased when he hears about this. Further setbacks or loss of cargo won't be tolerated by the contractor, we won't get our money if this fails." She cursed underneath her breath.

Their assignment to this ship had been rather simple, collect the cargo from the collection points and then deliver it to the designated harbor after which it would be unloaded onto the trucks. With that done all they needed to do now was to keep the ship secure until it could leave again for international waters, that was it, pretty simple. And right now that was the part where it was going wrong, that idiot still hadn't taken care of the intruders. Seventh had been put in charge of security, their failure was also his failure. He would be held accountable.

"Dammit! Fuck!" Bando cursed loudly as he peeked in the adjacent corridor, it was huge compared to the ones they had been using so far. Easily three to possibly five times the size this one gave him the impression that it was used for transporting large pieces of equipment, given its vast size he really didn't want to come here given this was more than enough space for that thing to get inside.

"What is it, any hostiles up ahead?" Sakai noticed the hesitation, he was cradling the new weapon he had managed to acquire, a rather modern looking assault rifle, certainly not something that was common but it was a welcome find. It even came with an underslung grenade launcher that held no less than five grenades in its magazine. Sakai wondered how these people had managed to procure it but that was going to have to wait. "Bando, what is that you see up ahead?"

He was further back and as such hadn't seen what Bando had. Not being aware of the large corridor that ran in front of them it seemed odd to him for them to stop all of a sudden. "We need to keep moving to make sure nobody catches up with us."

Looking from left to right Bando noticed that it was poorly lit, maybe twenty or less meter that he could see in either direction. That wasn't good as beyond that distance it got dark.

If it was lurking just out there, waiting for them to expose themselves they weren't going to have a chance. "We have a problem," he mentioned before turning back and facing Sakai.

"There is a massive corridor just up ahead, about several times the size of this one I would guess. Likely it's used for transporting large objects but it's also perfectly suitable for that thing to get through. Next, there is poor lighting, if it's sitting there we won't be able to see it but it will see us first. I can't even see a door or a way to get out of it. We have a problem."

The realization sank in with Sakai who let out a curse of his own in response, that wasn't going to do them any good and Bando was certainly right. Unless they could quickly locate a door or another way to exit that corridor they were going to be trapped and who knew how long it was.

For all they knew, it might even go all the way to the other side of the ship which meant a good hundred meters or more. That was far too much distance for them to cross, far too much when one added the possibility of that thing being in there.

He moved up further, getting a look at it for himself. Seeing the vastness of it, he felt speechless, yeah Bando hadn't been kidding when he had mentioned that they had a problem.

"Oh, we definitely have a problem alright. I don't like the look of it, we are far too exposed out there. Dammit, we need to find another way." They couldn't go further, the risk was simply too great to take. Although that thing was most prominent on his mind he couldn't rule out the possibility of enemy men inside it or guard points set up. In such a long corridor a single powerful rifle would already be enough to pick them off at long range.

With most of the lights out it was even possible that already there was a sniper in place using thermals or night vision equipment to take care of any intruders.

Bando looked around them, trying to see if he could find anything that would let him have another look without exposing himself. "You stay here Sakai, I'm going to go back a little and see if I can find something useful. If you see anybody then take them out asap but refrain from making any noise, likely that will attract it. If you see it then hide."

"Now wait just a minute, you're not leaving me here on my own dammit! We came here together and we leave here together! Don't think for a second that I'll approve of us splitting up, neither of us has a chance when that thing shows us, you know that damn well!"

He cursed though kept his voice down, both of them were aware of the threat posed by it and going around on their own playing hero was only going to see both of them dead.

Bando turned and look at him. "Are you fucking done with the damn speech?"

"We stick together and that is final! If you want to go on your own then you had better shoot me here and now because I won't let you run off on your own. I've already lost too many men this night. I'm not keen to lose another person even if I have plenty of reason to hate your guts!"

Bando did little other than grin, he seemed to be really enjoying that choice of words. Well, whatever it was he gestured that Sakai could come with him. "Let's go then, I want to get off this ship and fast. Make no mistake though Sakai, I'll take down that thing. I've got a score to settle with it."

Sakai placed his arm in front of him. "No, you don't! You going after that to settle a score will see you dead, no person can't go up against something like that! Do you have a death wish?!"

Bando scoffed at that remark, like Hell he was going to let somebody dictate what he could and couldn't take on. Even then he did have to admit that he was having doubts about succeeding, this thing wasn't human at all. The way it just killed without effort or remorse whatever was foolish enough to get in its path was an unnerving but equally exciting prospect.

After the death of the horned queen, known to most as Lucy, and that sadistic asshole he had been without a worthy adversary to test his mettle against for far too long.

If it could kill him, and Bando had no doubt that it was more than capable of doing that, then it was simply because he wasn't strong enough. Still, he had made a promise and one he was keen to keep and besides he couldn't leave the rest of the world unprotected from the last few remaining horned girls. Somebody needed to keep them in line and deliver a good kick to their asses if they crossed the damn line.

"Alright, so what is it exactly that you need? Maybe a mirror? Or a piece of reflective material? Come on, give me something to work with," Sakai grumbled as they kept walking, searching with Bando not really paying much attention to him or informing him to what he was after. The man was just impossible to work with at times like these.

The silence continued with Bando going through every room they came across, covering the rear Sakai didn't feel all that comfortable. How much he wanted another gun right now, anything that would help make him feel safer and more in control of the situation.

Bando smiled as he held up an object. "Found it, this should help." It was a simple mirror.

Sakai frowned at the sight of it, feeling less than impressed with the find. "Not sure, I really hope you know what you're doing because otherwise, we're going to have a problem. This is one of your crazy schemes you're working on isn't it?"

Bando left out a little chuckle and left it at that as he left the room and went further back the way they had come, the way that led to the large corridor. Shaking his head in disbelief Sakai just turned and followed the man towards the corridor as well, they were going to check for a way out. It went against his earlier statement that they should not separate but he felt that this search was in vain. He rather wanted to go and search for a door, hopefully, some luck would shine on him. "I wish this day had never come, it can't end soon enough either." he sighed, shoulders dropping

"With all due respect, mercenary." the man nearly spat the word. "But are you certain that the intruders will come through here? We have cordoned off the area and placed booby-traps at key intersections. Motion sensors have also been installed as per the instructions," the man informed Seventh as he stepped forward, their gear and equipment making it clear that they were not part of either the ship's crew of the guard detachment that was permanently attached to it but rather some of the more elite troops that were sent over as well to oversee the operation and guarantee the safety of the cargo. They were not part of Seventh's group but rather belonged to their employee and they certainly did not take kindly to the likes of him.

Clad in heavy body armor it was clear that these guys were not to be underestimated.

Seventh bit back his irritation and instead opted to simply answer the man in return. "Aye, I've been tracking their movement and everything indicates that they are heading in this direction. Fortunately, as they have no idea of the layout of the inner core it was easy for me to use several shortcuts and get ahead of them but you can expect to see them soon."

He formulated his words carefully, keeping the information to a bare minimum that would still enable these men to operate with efficiency. Though it seemed that none of them had been informed of a drastic change in the situation; namely the appearance of the beast.

"Has there been any word from either the bridge of Ninth?" He asked, feeling curious about his fellow mercenary and rival, he hoped that she hadn't arrived just yet.

"Negative, communications have been down for the most part and what we have heard was sporadic and cryptic, to say the least. What we have been able to deduct is that the intruders have managed to cause substantial losses to our forces."

Seventh nodded, they hadn't been aware yet though they were of the deads. Well, it came as no surprise as only those who had actually seen it were aware and nearly of its presence and of those most had died in mere seconds. A few others besides him might have survived though that was unlikely.

"Your radio is fully functioning, right? Hand it over as I need to contact Ninth." His hand held out the officer wasn't going to take no for an answer. Even if he much more preferred to see Ninth's death at the hands of Bando or the thing he sure wasn't planning on making the mistake of not informing her. Any crucial info that he might leave out could potentially backfire on him during the debriefing once this whole mess was over.

With reluctance, he was handed the man his radio and quickly he switched to the channel that was used by Ninth. Hearing her voice he began to explain what had happened and he could actually hear her annoyance grow. "Will you just shut up for frag sake and listen to me?!" He shouted in return as his patience had reached its limit. "That thing is on the fucking ship! You saw the footage too right?! I'm telling it's fucking here! It just went through two dozen men! Put your arrogance aside or you will share their fate!" Walking away from the man and the rantings of Ninth he wasn't feeling keen on continuing with trying to reason, he wasn't in the mood anymore to wait for her reply nor did he care for it. He had done what he needed to do.

But his conversation with the woman had attracted the attention of the other men assembled in the room, they were all rather keen to learn exactly what this thing was that he had spoken about. He couldn't blame them, it was for the best if they were informed of this as well as he had no doubt that he was going to need to call on these men when the time came.

"A thing or rather some kind of beast got on the ship. Never seen anything like it before, it was huge, bigger than a man. I don't know what kind of beast it is, I don't got a clue where it came from, make no mistake though, if it notices you it will kill you."

The men all looked at each other, none of them seemed to make much of it but the warning he gave them was taken to heart. "You had better not be kidding us, mercenary."

The one in charge, a man named Oda stepped forward. "We won't take it lightly if you go and waste our time. If this thing is real we will heed your advice. If not we will exact a score with you." With his jawline straightening the man turned and left, taking the other men with him.

Seventh was alone once more but it suited him just fine, all he needed to do now was to lie down and wait for Bando to show up, that was until without warning the lights went out. Not just in this room but in the adjacent corridor as well and across the rest of the ship.

Looking up he knew that this wasn't a coincidence, somebody or possibly even something had cut the power to this area. "That's very clever, it seems like I might have a second worthy opponent but make no mistake beast. I won't go down without a fight." His hand rested on his one remaining grenade, if it were to come to that he would let them explode.

Suddenly the red emergency lights came back on, casting their red glow across the passageway and illuminating his way, the massive passageway appeared even darker than it had before with only a few parts of it lit by the emergency lights. Further up ahead he could see Sakai waving towards him, signaling that he had found a door they could use.

Finally some good news for a change, hopefully, it would lead them to somewhere from where on they could hopefully get off this blasted ship. It couldn't be too soon enough for him, his leg was really starting to ache and he was certain that the effect of the painkillers was starting to wear off. It wasn't a good sign as he needed all of his concentration on making it out of here alive, he might get lucky and find some on the ship but he had his doubts.

Quickening his pace he picked up some speed as he knew where he was going but as he risked a glance over his shoulder at the sound of torn metal in the distance, the sight he was greeted with nearly paralyzed him with horror, breaking into sight for mere seconds before being swallowed again by the darkness but there was no mistaken that the beast was coming at him with blinding speed across the ceiling.

"Oh fuck!" he cursed as he caught another glimpse of it, wasting no time he broke into a mad dash hoping that he could at least maintain the distance till he could reach the door. Throwing another quick glance over his shoulder he noticed that it was closing the distance at a frightening pace, he was never going to reach the door before it would reach him. "Sakai cover me dammit! Shoot! Just fucking shoot it!" he yelled.

It took several seconds for Sakai to react to the threat, opening fire and sending a torrent of rounds flying through the corridor. Some clanged off the metal walls as it took a moment for Sakai to find his aim. Firing on full auto now he emptied an entire clip in seconds.

Bando didn't care, he didn't even mind that some of the shots got dangerously close to him. "Shoot it, Sakai! Don't hold back you bastard!" If just one of those shot could make it lose its footing then he had a chance. Anything to gain the few precious seconds that would mean the difference between life and death for him.

Behind his back, he could hear it growl and hiss in anger, even if they couldn't kill it they most certainly could hinder it. "Sakai shoot at the ceiling in front of it, shoot the damn pipes!"

A volley of rounds tore through those, hot steam under pressure caused the damaged pipes to rupture violently. He heard it shriek moments before the sound of an explosion deafened him, they sure were making a mess of the place but given the nature of its owners, he didn't mind. "Use the fucking grenades! Do it now!"

A few muffled thumps could be heard as Sakai fired a volley of no less than four grenades at the thing that was likely almost right behind Bando who kept on running. He didn't look back, to do so was foolish, maybe he scared of what he might see, either way, he wouldn't look. He wasn't going to risk getting blinded by the explosion and sure enough barely had the thought surfaced or the rounds detonated.

Hot shrapnel flew past him, he felt the hair on his neck singe, some of the shrapnel imbedding themselves in his flesh. A heat wave washed over him and although a blast wave slammed into him he managed to keep his footing.

"Bando! Get moving!" Sakai shouted, waving towards him to pick up the pace. The blazing fire that had erupted following the detonation of the grenades blocked his view, he couldn't tell for sure if he had managed to either hit the damn thing or forced it back but he wasn't planning on taking the risk either. "Move your ass now!"

With pain flaring up his leg he reached the relatively safety of the door but just as his hand reached out for it the flames behind them parted as the thing lurched forward. Its jaws wide open, its claws digging deep into the steel it led out a deafening roar right before the tail started to glow, a sharp crack could be heard. Bando knew exactly what was going to come next.

"Sakai run! For fuck sake run!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he slammed the door shut, right now he needed to put as much steel between them and it is possible, that eerie glow he had seen before, right before people and machines were sliced to bits. He wondered if the door was going to hold.

A massive blow landed against the door, it barely held as a second blow caused one of the hinges to crack but for the moment it seemed to hold. That was until a glowing blade sliced right through the door and nearly cut Bando in half, barely able to jump out of the way fast enough he felt a burning sensation on the skin on his belly. Damn, that had to be pretty hot if it could to that with a near miss.

"Bando!? Are you alright?! Damn, almost looked like that thing got you!" Sakai was already next to him, helping him to get back on his feet. "We should leave, I doubt that door is going to survive another blow or two like that. We had better not be near it, this narrow corridor should offer us some safety," Sakai remarked and then pointed further up ahead where another heavy door could be seen, likely it was one of those doors that would seal off the bulkhead.

Still coughing while trying to regain his breath Bando had his doubts about that but he wasn't going to argue with putting some distance between themselves and the beast. "You're right, let's get moving. We still have a job to do. You take the lead Sakai, I'll bring up the rear," Bando said as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Leave it to me but if you see me pulling back then get yourself ready for a fight, we're not out of this one just yet." Slamming in a new magazine Sakai took point with Bando following close behind him., behind them they could hear the door groan under another impact, two more of its hinges cracking under the strain. One last look before they began to close the second door, it took some exertion to coerce the heavy door to move but once they had gotten it locked they felt a little more secure in the knowledge that this door was sealed off the corridor. They just prayed that it was going to hold, that it would be enough.

"I don't know what it was that you did to it but it seems rather pissed off to me, somehow I get the impression that it might have a score to settle with you." Sakai joked as they moved on further to get away from the door. "It really looked like to be coming after you specifically."

Bando just sneered, yeah it sure looked like it but then he wasn't surprised given he had been the one who had fired an RPG at its head. "Yeah, looked that way. Can't say I can blame it but it did mess with the wrong person at that time. Like fucking Hell, I'll let myself becomes that thing's next meal! If it tries again I'll shove a grenade down its fucking throat!" He rebuked.

Sakai had to laugh at hearing that. "Then let's make sure then that it won't come to that. Much as I dislike you that isn't a fate I'd wish upon you. Besides have you noticed it as well?"

"That this place again looks different from the other parts of the ship we have seen, much more like those cold storage rooms. Their way too high tech for a ship, they definitely have a major backer on their side if they can have access to this kind of shit," Bando answered the question as he had noticed it the moment they had set foot in this corridor, then there was also the distinct humming of machinery coming from somewhere up ahead.

That was good to hear as it gave them a sense of direction though the actual chance of them being able to find a way out was rather low, in all likelihood they were walking straight into trouble. Their track through the darkened corridor continued for some time. "There appears to be a large door just up ahead of us. Look sharp, things might get hairy in there."

Nodding in response Bando checked his weapon and what ammo he had left to spare, just enough for one last fight. Sakai gestured that he found himself to be in a similar position, this was going to be it.

As Dai slowly opened his eyes he noticed that it was, much to his own dissatisfaction, still dark outside, rolling over he saw that Mako was deep asleep. Rolling back he let out a deep sigh as he tried to get back to sleep but he didn't feel that tired anymore for some reason.

Guess that the guilt he had been feeling earlier was back to haunt him, damn that bastard Bando for making him go through this. He could get up and grab something to drink but he didn't want to wake up any other members of the family. The girls needed their rest and Mako was definitely going to kill him if he woke up Sei, no, he was going to remain to lie there.

'I can't sleep, the damn guilt and worrying over Bando is going to keep me awake. And then, of course, there is that Kakuzawa girl, how am I even going to resolve that mess. I can't go through the official channels on this one as it's too risky.'

At least until he would be able to close his eyes again and manage to get some sleep, not easy as he had this uneasy feeling about something stirring in the back of his mind. For some unexplainable reason, he had this feeling that something really bad was going to happen and he sure didn't like the idea of that. The only person that he could think of for the moment was Bando given that he was out on some covert mission as if he needed anymore to add to his growing sense of guilt. 'You sure know how to make a guy feel bad about himself. Damn you, Bando. Why are you making me go through this kind of shit? I warned you not to go for your own sake and you chose to fully ignore it! Dammit! Damn you!'

He didn't need any more worries, he already had enough to be concerned with Anna having learned of the inn and the existence of the girls. He needed Bando to help with a solution and not go off on wild chases and other messed up practices where everything went to Hell.

'You keep putting me in these awkward situations, you nearly get me killed each and every single time. Right now my body is still recovering from the injuries I got back there and yet I don't mind being at your side if that means helping you to get back safely, I know that Mayu-chan would get sad if you weren't around. I wonder Bando, are you even aware of her feelings for you? Or do you chose to ignore them?'

He felt like he was going to go insane thinking about it for any longer, the best thing for him right now was to close his eyes and try to get back to sleep. Rolling and closing his eyes he was woken up again as he heard a buzzing sound, it came from behind him. Rolling back and looking he didn't notice it at first until the buzzing started again, it was his cell phone.

"That's odd, I'm not expecting any calls," he whispered as he leaned forward and fetched it up from the small desk next to the bed.

"Who could even call me at this hour?" Flipping open the phone he noticed much to his own surprise that he had, in fact, received a text message which made it all the weirder for him.

His surprise grew even further when he saw that it came from Bando himself, now he was also getting that ominous feeling again. If Bando texted him a message then surely it was for a very good reason, he got his reason; Bando was in trouble and needed his help. 'What kind of trouble did you get yourself in this time? Dammit, why does it have to be all the way out there?' He knew it, he knew that the mission was a fiasco waiting to happen, his mood wasn't lifted either when he saw where exactly Bando was. It was going to take a few hours before he would get there, it wasn't good but he knew that he had to go.

No longer concerned about getting that sleep he got out of the bed and went to his wardrobe, this couldn't wait. "I swear Bando you really owe me big time for this," he cursed underneath his breath as he opened the drawer holding his combat gear, he certainly was going to need it.

With all the stuff packed he moved quietly down the stairs, picking up the keys to the car as well he also taking the GPS with him. It was going to be a long ride before he could get there and it was unknown territory to him, better not risk getting lost and waste valuable time.

The lights were turned on, it wasn't by him and as he turned around he saw Mako standing there in her nightgown. "You're leaving to help him, aren't you? Don't answer me, I've seen that look in your eyes before. Go out and help him but make sure both of you come back alive." Stepping forward she leaned in closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "That is for good luck, don't you dare to die on me. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."

He didn't say a word, he couldn't with the lump stuck at the back of his throat but he was grateful for her understanding, in his mind he did make the promise that he was going to come back. Kissing her in return he whispered in her ear that he would be back soon enough.

Closing the door behind him the cold night air greeted him, he took a deep breath and moved over quickly towards where his car was parked.

He nearly laughed as he finished loading his stuff and got behind the wheel. Turning the key in the ignition he heard the engine rev, with that he drove off, the route he was going to need to take was already being displayed on his GPS system. "Hold on Bando, help is on the way." He pushed down hard on the gas as the car accelerated.

Author's note: Well folks, there it is, latest chapter for the story. Hope you all are having a good weekend.