In the Monorail Station situated beside Residential Sector, McHorn stood in front of the immobile car telling the thirteenth colonist that it won't run on emergency power. One of two marines flanking him with pulse rifles directed that colonist to join the line quickly making their way to the Dropship Bay. When they were gone, McHorn pinched the bridge of his nose behind his long, curved horn.

This was getting to be a real pain in the ass. Where was a megaphone where you needed it? And where the fuck was Bogo so he could explain what the hell was going on?

A lot of good marines had died at the Car Wash, and somehow some alien killer was responsible? If they weren't on a planet a gazillion light years from Earth, he would've screamed "Bullshit!" in the commander's face.

His pointed ear twitched at the sound of a tracker's pulsing beep. He turned to the yak holding the tracker away from the line of colonists, toward the canal where a lot of mammals had been disappearing. He stroke over and looked over Private Yaxley's shoulder at the little radar just as the beeping stopped.

"Was that movement?" He barked.

"The tracker caught it sixty meters away, north east." Yaxley pointed to the Rainforest Sector. "Whatever it was, it's gone now."

McHorn looked over the rail at the calmly flowing water beneath. "Don't let your guard down for a second."

He looked back at the colonists just in time to see the two-mammal crew of the Vidar, Rochewool and Cudson, walking among them. He doubted they'd ever imagined getting off planet like this.

Nick was the first to see the strange, hardened substance covering the walls, floors, and rails of the sewer system. He'd seen the substance before, bits and pieces of resin sticking to Hornbull's clothes when he'd been pulled from the caverns. This must be how the creatures built their nests, changing the habitat to suit their needs. Nick tried not to shake as he followed Bogo and the others deeper into the sewers. They were close. Way too close for comfort. Every shadow, every dark spot was a death trap. The infrared lens built into his helmet showed nothing but blue.

And that, Nick remembered, was why he and his flame unit was here. That thought somehow gave him courage.

At Bogo's signal, he crept to the front of the squad and gave a short burst of the flamethrower. Fire roared into the corridor ahead, illuminating everything for a precious couple of seconds. The way ahead was clear of any hostiles standing still enough to fool to tracker. Bogo signaled to proceed.

The resin grew thicker, covering more and more concrete and metal the further they went. When they entered a bigger part of the sewer, there was so much of the stuff that there was no mammal-made structure in sight. It was warmer as well, he noticed as they continued on, even when he wasn't clearing the way with his flamethrower. The smell resembled that same vinegary smell he'd detected at the cavern, overpowering even the stench of the sewer.

"Nobody touch nothing." Bogo growled under his breath but loud enough for the others to hear.

They stepped onto a walkway stretching over the foul water and turned a corner. That was when they saw the eggs.

At least twenty leathery eggs roughly his height littered the resin-coated walkway, opened at the top like four-leaved fleshy flowers. Sauntaures peeked into one of them. "Empty." He said.

Nick stepped on something that wasn't resin and retreated, aiming his flamethrower down at the corpse of a tailed eyeless spider. Or crab. Or whatever the hell kind off freaky parasite that got off raping mammals and implanting them with killer alien babies. Its legs were stiffly curled and its tail was limp, and he realized that the creature was dead.

"I think this makes a pretty good argument for adding slippers to our armory." Nick said. These parasites had no mouth that he could see, nothing to indicate they were intended to survive beyond implantation.

Which meant that whoever it had impregnated was nearby.

Nick scanned the area, looking for anyone alive or dead. He looked down at the floor, the shallow murky water beneath the walkway, the walls-

The walls.

He lifted the infrared lens from his eye as he gaped at the walls. "Sir."

Bogo, Sauntaures and the others were already staring speechless at the sight.

The colonists seemed almost fused into the walls, held in place by the resin in contorted positions that must have been torturous to be in when they were still alive. Every single chest was a gaping maw of shredded flesh and bone, their organs spilled onto the floor at their feet. Their faces were contorted like their bodies, fixed in silent screams of agony.

Sauntaures made the sign of the cross on his chest. "Holy Mother of God."

Nick had to turn away from the bodies before he threw up. Looking to the floor was a mistake- the contents of their torsos had spilled here. Something glinted silver amongst the resin and blood. He knelt down and picked it up, expecting a dime. He rubbed the blood away with his thumb and realized it was one of the Personal Data Transmitters they'd used to find the missing colonists, not knowing it was already too late. He slipped it into a pouch and fixed his gaze on the bare wall before him, an organic abstract of web, bone-like patterns. There was even a part of the wall that looked like an elongated spinal column curled into a scorpion tail.

When he was sure he wasn't going to let loose, he lowered the infrared lens back over his eye and turned to face Bogo. "The hive seems empty, sir. Where do we go from here?"

Bogo responded by lunging at Nick with his heavy pulse rifle.

Nick was stopped from recoiling by the sudden grip of a large clawed hand wrapping around his neck. The rifle came down hard on something behind Nick's head. A horrifically familiar screech let loose right next to his ear and the hand came away. He threw himself away from the wall and spun round, blasting his flamethrower at the creature that been camouflaged in the resin all along. The infrared lens turned a blazing white.

These things don't show up in infrared, we are so FUCKED-

Engulfed in fire, the creature screeched in rage and leapt off the wall, smashing Bogo aside as it leapt over the railing and disappeared into the water with a violent splash that soaked Nick's body armor.

Private Morris, a polar bear wielding a smart gun, ran to the rail and fired into the water, while Nick ran forward to slap at the small fire on Bogo's shoulder. When it was out, he stepped back to let Bogo get to his feet. "You okay, sir?"

"Yes. You?" Bogo looked at Nick.

Nick gave a thumbs up. "Thanks for not shooting it right next to me, sir."

"Acid for blood, remember? I'm not daft." Bogo checked his hide for burns. "That thing was right in front of you Wilde. How did you miss it?"

Nick shook his head. "The infrared didn't pick it up, sir. It literally looked like part of the wall."

"Son of a bitch." Bogo growled and turned his weapon on the wall. The others followed suit. Nick could feel the paranoia and anxiety sweeping over them like a wave.

"Wilde?" Bogo said.

"Awaiting orders, sir."

Bogo's order was grim. "Burn it all."

Nick's frightened gaze panned the line of mutilated corpses. "Ah well. They'd have just been cremated anyway."

He opened fire, a little glad he wouldn't have to write the obituary for this.

Even before the flames touches the resin and the bodies, two more creatures burst from the walls. One burst of Bogo's rifle exploded one of them into a caustic yellow spatter. The other dodged the burst of the smart gun and tackled Santaures to the floor, grabbing his head with both clawed hands. When Nick looked at them, the bovine was feebly pushing at the creature's eyeless face even as blood poured from the hole its inner jaw had punched through his throat. He aimed for the thick dorsal tubes atop its back and fired, settling them alight. The creature turned to glare at him. He'd never thought a face without eyes could express such hatred. Then again, the porcelain-like green spider-web crack in its forehead could easily pass for a single, lidless eye.

Wait a second…

"On our six!" Wolfowitz howled. Four more creatures, including the one who had attacked Nick from behind, emerged from the water, clambering over the rail and charging at the marines. Nick didn't see how the battle ended. Currently he was turning tail and running as the burning creature left Santaures dying on the floor and came after him.

"Movement!" Morris, the polar bear watching the exit barked as the bleeping sound of the tracker filled the laboratory.

"How many?" Clawhauser asked from the gurney he sat on.

"Counting eight- no, ten."

"Friendlies?" Hunslet asked.

"No way of knowing with comms out."

Hopps was still at the desk. "Anything in the vents?"

Morris glanced at her. "No. They're approaching the doors."

They'd welded all the big vents shut soon after Bogo and Wilde and left with their comrades.

Carthusia watched the grunts react to the approaching threat, ready to take cover beneath the window the moment the explosive blew those doors apart.

Those damned marines. They could ruin everything. His prior confidence had wavered in the last four minutes that had passed since he'd checked the time. The Camels could all be killed as soon as those doors opened, or enough of them could die for them to retreat and leave him to his fate.

He'd prepared for everything, or as much as he could before Clawhauser had apprehended him. All his research had been downloaded on the PDA lying on the desk beside him, and the original data had been deleted on his computer. He wouldn't leave behind a scrap for the Company to exploit.

It hadn't been easy, preparing to leave his respectable career in biology behind, sacrificing everything from his reputation to his personal laboratory, but it had to be done. They'd left him no choice. The Night Howler project was his. It was always his. It wouldn't be good if the Company was able to identify who was responsible for his escape, so as unfortunate as it may be, none of the marines, nor Hopps or Clawhauser, could leave this lab alive. He hoped his evacuation party would spare a couple of minutes to take some samples from Clawhauser, or even salvage the body itself, just in case the parasite had left something behind before its premature death.

Clawhauser and Hopps were ordered to the back of the lab to hide behind a desk while the marines took cover behind the various tables and desks. Carthusia watched them go, knowing the deer marine guarding him would not allow him to leave the small office. Perfectly fine by me.

"Ten meters!" The bear said. "Nine. Eight."

"That's right outside the door." Hunslet said.

If it was Bogo, they'd use the intercom by the door to identify themselves. Carthusia watched while they waited for Bogo to announce his return. When they heard nothing from the intercom, they aimed their weapons at the doors.

"Oh shit." Morris was watching the tracker.
"What?" Hunslet asked.

"Remember when there was nothin' in the vents? There is now."

There was a hissing sound. Carthusia thought the Camels had decided to cut through the doors instead, but he didn't see any sparks. Then he realized the sound wasn't coming from the doors. Both he and the deer watching him looked up to see the welded vent above his head being ripped away-

BOOM!

The lab doors blew outward in a flash of brilliant light. Carthusia tore his gaze from the vent, saw the marines open fire on the smoking doorway while Hopps and Clawhauser cowered behind their desk-

-beyond the vicious gunfire of corps and camels alike, there was a thud, a brief chatter of pulse rifle fire, and something white hot splattered over his head and shoulders-

Carthusia just had time to scream from the acid before the wounded creature that had decapitated the deer grabbed him by the face and dragged him into the vent from whence it came.

McHorn and his subordinates were the last to arrive at the dropship bay. His corporal informed him that there were eighty-four colonists accounted for. The rest, excluding Clawhauser and Hopps, were unaccounted for. Too many for his liking. He knew in his gut that they were dead. Bogo likely knew too, but he cared too much to assume the worst.

McHorn watched as the first batch of civvies were guided into the dropship. Comms were still down, but once the dropship came into the Avellanos's proximity, they should be able to establish a connection with the bigger ship and report the situation to Colonel Mane.

All this over an invasion of bugs. At least the civvies are being civil.

Yes, the colonists were being quiet and orderly- quietly and orderly enough for the rhino to heard a metallic clumping sound coming from high up on the dropship.

Corporal Bors, the hippo standing on the ramp guiding the colonists into the ship, heard the sound too. "Hey, who the hell's climbing all… over?"

McHorn's jaw dropped when he saw the black hissing thing staring down at the corporal as it poked its head over the side of the dropship. Before everyone's eyes two-dozen more of its kind emerged, crawling over the dropship and clambering over the rails. The first of them dropped from its perch, skewering Bors with its tail in an explosion of gore. Three others sprinted past it into the dropship and the screaming began.

"RUUUUN!" Someone shrieked.

"Fuck my life." McHorn whispered. His roar to open fire was lost over the shrieks of the aliens and the hysterical screams of colonists as all hell broke loose.