She sat by his side, holding the small hand in hers as she looked down at him in the hospital bed. He was only seven years old, and he was fading before her. The mother inside her was filled with despair as she fought to put on a brave face, while his body was connected to monitoring systems that displayed heartbeat and respiratory functions, while the sterilized smell of alcohol permeated the air around them. He couldn't see her, he seemed to be sleeping as his breath fogged the breathing mask over his mouth, and all she could do was squeeze his hand as tightly as she could, bringing it to her chest.
Sandra Hoffman's eyes fluttered as her head swam and pounded as though it were being used as a door mat. With a groan, she touched her head and brought it away with a sharp hiss and saw that her fingertips were red. Her vision was still swimming as she tried to get up from her seat, her hearing muted and dulled but gradually coming back into focus along with her eyesight. She found herself lying on the ground, rain falling around her as she picked herself up. Looking about, she could see her fellow teammates from Squad 5 trying to fight back the hulking, looming figures that towered over them as they amassed upon them like a flood. She turned and almost ran into one; It stood more than twice her height, looking down with vaguely human features save for the large circular eyes, brown body, twitching antennae, and massive physique. It lunged forward with an arm and grabbed her, throwing her over its shoulder as she screamed and tried to break free of its grip, but to no avail. She saw her captain, Adolf, slumping down as though he were spent with nothing left. She saw death closing around her from all sides as the hulking forms surrounded her, and she thought of her son and how she came here to this desolate place to save him, and it drove her to almost madness as she struggled to free herself. However, it was then, in the din of chaos, that she saw them. Two figures in the same uniform as she was, had seemingly appeared out of nowhere; one of them was almost as large and hulking as the army of brutes that bore down on them, but with long, jet black hair and a chiseled physique, while the other was shorter and litheir with a spiked mane of hair. The wiry one had a look of stone-like stoicism, as though calculating and processing the situation with the coldness of a machine, but the other one? The look on the other one scared her, for he bore a visage like a grinning demon, a smiling sneer cracking his stone-like face as he gripped something in his hands, and to her it looked like a sword. Their very presence was enough for the chaos to momentarily pause as all eyes were on them, no sound save for the falling rain and the occasional boom of thunder. They stood before Adolf, and the tall hulking one said something that she couldn't hear, and both injected themselves with a single syringe. The transformation they underwent was a drastic one. The hulking one's hide changed, becoming a dark green as it sported what looked like scutes on various parts of his body, like armor plates, while a large tail sprouted from the base of his spine, erupting out of his white and silver suit and thrashing about, as his physique more than tripled in size. The other got a little taller, and his boots opened up to allow his transformed feet more freedom as they took on a more bird-like quality, becoming scaled and slender while the inner toes was raised and became more hook-like. He sported a tail as well, but his was more erect and straight, and covered in feathers, as was the rest of his body. He gripped a long knife in each hand as he crouched, while the hulking one drew his long blade and let loose a bellow into the air before running at the horde, his compatriot dashing faster than the eye could see, blades flashing and swinging and spilling torrents of blood onto the ground, a new bloodbath had been unleashed.
The year is 2619. Mankind's ambitions now spread to the stars as he sought to turn Mars into another Earth. Hundreds of years ago, an expedition deposited simple life forms on the planet to turn it habitable; algae to give the planet air, and cockroaches to beconsumed by the algae. Hundreds of years later, nother expedition was sent to explore the planet and see what fruit was born. What the expedition experienced was beyond their wildest dreams, and darker than their most twisted nightmares as all but two of the expedition members were slaughtered by the newly-evolved inhabitants of Mars, the descendants of the cockroaches that had taken human form, called Terraformars. That was when a second expedition was planned, improving on the faults of the previous, intent on wiping out the Terraformars, and most importantly, finding the cure to an alien virus spreading through mankind. That was why Sandra Hoffman, 28 year-old single mother, joined U-NASA; to save her son. She underwent the Mosaic Organ operation, having her cell structure recombined and reworked to be able to function on Mars, along with something extra, something latent that she personally chose. On the ship to Mars, Sandra kept to herself mostly. She did open up a bit with the rest of her teammates; Rachel, Mirapix, Antonio, Fritz, Enrique, Eva, Isabela, and the captain, Adolf Reinhard. Adolf seemed curious, for in addition to his officer's blue and white uniform, he always had the collar turned up, obscuring the view beneath his piercing blue eyes and short blonde hair. With them, even with the stand-offish Isabela and the enigmatic Adolf, she felt a sense of security. However, she did not feel the same with everyone: Two other members, supposedly brothers, seemed to watch from a distance, as though guaging them. When they were supposed to eat together as a group, they always seemed to keep their distance. When she asked Adolf about them, his response was almost clinical: "A couple of new recruits I hand-picked that I thought would be useful on the mission. Do they bother you?" Sandra was taken slightly aback by the question, and denied to answer. Still, it seemed like she could feel the larger one's eyes on her, watching her like a predator watches prey. It brought up very unpleasant memories from her past, memories of her son's, Kurt's, father as he seemed to eye her with the same look. That was before the incident ocurred. It was sudden, like the firing of a gun, that the cockroaches made their presence known on the ship and started to massacre the people on board. The team captains gathered whom they could onto the escape craft. Sandrah followed Adolf into the craft, along with the rest of her team. But that was only the start of her nightmarish descent into the Hell that awaited them on Mars.
The escape craft was pulled into Mars's reentry and started to burn from the friction. Adolf gripped the controls while Isabella took her seat as co-pilot, righting the craft and re-angling its point of descent. The craft was designed to be a long streamlined fuselage with large wings at the base, the canopy for the cockpit and passengers seated near the front of the body. Its skin was made to survive such rigors of space, but it still shook on the inside terribly, as though it were in the throes of a mighty earthquake. Small items that weren't connected or bolted to the ship fell around them as the crew behind the Adolf and Isabela continued to panic, especially Antonio, who sat beside Sandrah. He kept on muttering "We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die," as he held his head in his hands, his slightly round body trembling as he whimpered. Enrique and Fritz gritted their teeth and held on to the armrests of their seats, while Rachel and Miraprix shut their eyes as they held on, Eva huddled in her chair, terrified. Even Sandra found herself gripped in the throes of terror as she found her hands had gripped the armrests so tightly they were beginning to cramp. The only ones who seemingly kept their cool were the two in the back, the brothers that she didn't know the names of. They looked at one another, the taller saying something to the slimmer one, and she could see that both had grinned and fist bumped each other. What could possibly make them excited about all of this? Whatever it was, Sandra couldn't fathom it.
"We've broken reentry, and have just entered Mars's atmosphere!" Adolf called back to his team. And it was true, for outside the scene changed from burning red space to a blue sky with white clouds, though the ship still rattled and quaked. But even with this, there was a collective feeling of relief, and even the tremors were starting to lessen to a noticeable degree. "I'm going to try for that open plain, everyone strap yourselves in!" The craft's wings changed, transforming into something resembling the legs of a grasshopper or cricket, while retro-rockets erupted beneath the fuselage and the newly-formed "legs" of the craft, slowing its descent. But even still, it hit the ground with enough force to bounce off the ground once, but not twice as heavy-duty wheels popped into place on the fuselage and on the ends of the "legs", making the craft skid to a resting halt. Inside, the team was still tense, not one wanting to say anything as soft moans and groans were heard, until Adolf stood up and addressed them. "Congratulations, Team 5 has just successfully made landfall on Mars." As though on command, a collective sigh and groan of relief was heard from the team as seat belts were unbuckled and the team stood up to stretch. Antonio looked like he was going to deflate onto the floor as he slumped in his seat while Enrique and Fritz stood up to stretch the tension out of their limbs.
"Is it safe to go outside?" Eva asked, looking out the canopy.
"Mars's atmosphere is similar to Earth's, while the MO Operation we went through will help compensate for any difference, and it looks like there's no cockroaches out there for now," Isabella said.
"Plus, we need to go out and get samples, anyway," Adolf added. "Alright, here's what's going to happen. Isabella, you take Antonio, Sandra, Rachel, and Miraprix with you. They're to collect soil and air samples while you keep a lookout. If one or more of the roaches appear, I want you to try and capture it, alive if possible, dead if necesarry."
"Got it. Alright, you heard the captain, let's get a move on!" They lined up behind Isabella, with Sandrah standing behind Rachel, who stood behind Antonio. Adolf pressed some commands on the console behind the steering wheel, and the door hissed and slowly opened. As it did so, several of the team held their breaths, unsure of what to make of the alien air that started to enter the craft. After a moment that seemed tom stretch forever, Antonio let his breath out and unconsciously breathed in the Martian atmosphere. The smell was odd, familiar. It was like being beside a lake or river and smelling the dampness around it. Isabella looked back with a smirk "Let's move it, civilians!" Isabella practically jumped out of the ship, ignoring the steps leading down to the Martian ground. Stepping outside onto the planet was something Sandra was not expecting. She expected it to be red, dull, lifeless. But it wasn't. The sky was bright blue with whisps of clouds floating by lazily. The ground was flecked with patches of green that ranged from dark and dull, to bright and vibrant. And the air, the air was humid, thick with moisture like in a rainforest. As she walked down the steps, she looked around in curious wonder, seeing the terrain change from flat plains to tall mountains. Reaching the ground, Antonio set the large case he was carrying down and opened it. Inside were various pieces of equipment meant to take samples. Sandra took hers; it looked like a type of silvery spray bottle with a panel on the side of the nozzle. This device was made to take samples of both air and water, sucking it into the large container underneath the nozzle. She pressed her thumb against the panel, and the trigger unlocked, allowing her to squeeze it before releasing it, the miniature mechanisms working the suction effect that filled the container to full. She had five other specimen jars left to fill, and so she went while Rachel was doing the same as her as she went in a different direction, while Antonio and Miraprix were gathering soil samples with shovels and collection boxes. This was supposed to be the first of at least a dozen such collections to be done over the course of forty days as they were to travel from spot to spot, at least, it was until Annex I was overrun by the cockroaches. But now…
They watched from a distance, measuring and guaging the invaders on their territory. Whatever intelligence they have, it is an alien and inhuman form of logic that they follow, save for one: the instinctive need to destroy any threat, potential or inevitable. The hulking forms looked at one another, their antennae twitching and swaying as their large, circular eyes that never seemed to blink gazed on, vacant of expression. They have but one goal, one singular mission, and they intend to carry it out.
They were just about finishing up with collecting their samples, getting ready to head back onto the craft, when it appeared. It stood atop a rising mound, looking down at them with its long, expressionless face and twitching antennae. Isabella was the first to notice it, seeing it made her surprised for a second before she recovered. "Heads up!" All eyes were on her, then searching until they saw the Martian cockroach. The group collectively froze as they saw the hulking figure. They had heard about what they did to the second expedition to Mars, and even saw the brutality they were capable of first hand on Annex I, but to see one in its own environment was both fascinating and frightening. That is, to all but Isabella. All she felt was an eagerness as she strode out, throwing her coat to the ground and grabbing a syringe from her pocket before she spoke to the group. "All of you, back on the craft. This big bastard is all mine." She ended the last sentence with a wolfish grin as she jabbed the needle into her neck and pressed the plunger. The drug within quickly interacted with her blood, circulatory, nervous, and glandular system, activating the specialized functions they had received previously from her Mosaic Organ Operation: Her body expanded, her arms and legs becoming thicker, robust and armored, her digits ending in wicked claws on both hands and feet. Her head changed as well, sporting a pair of sharp antennae on the top of her head, while her eyes changed to blood red while lines of veins ran down from her eyes to past her cheeks. "Alive or dead, you're coming with me," Isabella said with iron assurance. The cockroach didn't even twitch at the sight of her transformation, or even as she strode towards it. On board the ship, all eyes were on Isabella and the cockroach, seeing which one would make the first move against the other. It was Isabella who made the first move, leaping high into the air, reaching at least thirty meters before coming down like a meteor with a kick that struck the cockroach and pinned it to the ground with a splatter of its bodily fluids and organs spurting out its back and staining the ground in yellow-green. Watching this, Adolf felt a sigh escape him as he softly commented.
"Always having to make a mess of things."
"Did you see that?" Antonio commentated.
"That's what a combat-type is capable of," Enrique added.
"No, they're capable of even more than that," Rachel replied. "That's not even close to her full capabilities."
"Amazing," Eva whispered. The only two who seemed to be unfazed were the two brothers who watched in passive silence, taking in the whole scene. Isabella pulled her foot from its chest, wiping her sole on the ground and picking up the corpse and slinging it on a shoulder as though it were like a bag of grain as blood and bile stained her shirt. She looked back with a wolfish grin and a wink.
"How's this for a sample?!" she called out to the craft before walking towards it. She was only a few feet from the craft when she stopped, her antennae picking up new sensations: slight movements in the air, the smell of cockroaches only all around her, and sound vibrations that were ever so minute, they could almost not exist, and yet they do. All this made Isabella stop, and drop the cockroach corpse to the ground a she looked around. Inside, Adolf checked the sensor readings, and sure enough he saw them being picked up on the sensor screen. More than a dozen readings started to surround and close in on them. Outside, they made their presence known, for they stood around the craft and Isabella in a circle, the hulking humanoid-shaped cockroaches' antennas twitching and moving about as silent messages passed between them.
Inside the craft, the team was getting restless, even nervous as the dozen cockroaches surrounded them, Antonio giving voice to their concern, saying "They got us surrounded, they're not gonna let us leave!" he finished the second line by turning to face Adolf, as though looking to him for both guidance and comfort, but the stoic German gave none. It was then that the silent pair did something the group did not expect: They stood up. The largest one walked forward while the slimmer one followed. The hulking man stood at least a solid six feet, his limbs broad as tree trunks under his uniform as his large hands were thrust into his coat pockets, his long black hair was pulled back down his spine, leaving his face free and all to bear his hard-chiseled features; His square jaw, heavy brow, his nose that looked like the tip of a narrow blade, tanned skin that showed he was best out in the sun. But most of all were his eyes, that seemed to smolder like emerald embers as they showed just the most minute of the unyielding malevolence held in check. All who looked at him gave him a naturally wide berth. The one trailing him, his "brother" looked almost the exact opposite. He was wiry, almost gaunt, if not for his defined musculature under his uniform. He stood at no less than five foot five, his face seemingly retained a sense of youthfulness as it was somewhat rounded, his hair almost golden, shorter and spikier. However, he too had the same emerald eyes, but they didn't burn. They were cold, calculating, as though behind them were the machinations of a machine working on the latest problem. The hulking man made it to Adolf's side and whispered something to him, but the German simply, almost imperceptibly, raised a hand as though to stay the giant before him before speaking.
"Let's see what she can do, first." The large man didn't say anything else, simply turned to his brother and gave the barest of head shakes to him as both stood and watched the cockroaches close in around them.
The cockroaches closed in, walking towards the craft and Isabella, then they broke into a sprint towards the woman. Descending from earth-borne cockroaches, their natural speed is magnified several times to the scale of a human, making them able to move several times faster than the speed of sound. However, before they could reach Isabella, she was able to leap straight up into the air, for unlike the cockroaches, she borrowed the abilities of a different insect: the Sia Ferox, a vicious and carnivorous cricket with a powerful leap, many times greater than that of a cockroach, and Isabella is able to channel that power in not just her legs, but her arms as well. As she reached the ceiling of her jump, Isabella angled herself to descend towards a rising mound, landing with the speed of a jet, with the impact to match, but no physical damage was apparent on her, nor did she look the least bit fatigued. Instead, she bore a wolfish smile as she bored down on them, the cockroaches, the Terraformars, the enemy that seemed to be fearsome and indomitable, until now. She dashed forward, heading for the reforming ring as they shifted their focus on the oncoming living missile. However, Isabella lashed out with a fist that pierced the upper chest of one of the Terraformars and erupted out the other side. Wrenching her arm free with a shout, Isabella jumped and spun and landed her left foot against the side of another cockroach, knocking it clean off of its shoulders. One raised a massive club intent on smashing Isabella's skull into pulp, but the woman spun and her right leg smashed into the cockroach's arm, rendering it useless as it hung limply and the club dropped while Isabella followed up with a palm through its face and out the back of its head. She felt powerful, invincible, unstoppable, as she slew the cockroaches one after the other, while some watching her ferocious display watched in awe, save for some.
"There's Isabella kicking ass again, as usual," Enrique commented.
"I feel bad that we're not out there helping her," Antonio replied.
"Like we have a choice," Sandra answered. "We wouldn't last two seconds out there." But while the conversation was going on, Adolf had received a communication from Team 2's captain, Officer Davis. The image of her blonde hair, small glasses, and pretty face filled a small window on Adolf's console.
"You need to head to the crash site of Annex 1, and get there before either the Chinese and Russian teams. This is urgent, Adolf."
"Roger," Adolf replied before signing off. He then turned to face the rest of his team as they still talked, and it was Antonio who was still lamenting.
"I wish they let us choose better organisms for our base. It would be easier to use our new abilities to help us fight."
"You'll have to anyway," Adolf replied, getting their attention. "Once you step outside, you'll have no choice but to fight. If you have time to grumble, you have time to figure out how to best use your abilities." Adolf then turned to Eva. "Tell Isabella to come back, she should be reaching her limit right about now." Eva nodded and turned on the PA while Adolf turned to the brothers. "Strap yourselves back in, we're heading to Annex I," he then turned to the rest of the team. "That goes for the rest of you, our goal is to get to Annex I before the Russians and the Chinese."
"Why's that?" Antonio asked. Adolf didn't answer, simply turned the craft's engine over when Isabella stepped back inside, her form reverted back to her more human shape, but still covered in blood. She went to the back and retrieved an extra coat to replace the one she damaged. As the craft sped along, dark clouds were gathering and heading towards them, and drops of rain pelted the metal and glass. As Adolf drove, he kept shifting his attention from the windshield to the radar screen on the console, noticing that an object was keeping pace with them. His driving became more erratic, sharp turns as he wound around hills and mounds, trying to shake the pursuer, to no avail. His team would have been tossed about if they were not strapped into their seats. But then, in an instant, something struck the craft from the side with enough impact to send it skidding into a deep depression, like a crater. Inside, Team 5 was jostled about even more, their restraints straining to keep them to their seats. Only when the vehicle stop did the team let out a groan of relief as Adolf picked himself up from the console to look up out of the canopy. What he saw made his heart sink: It was another craft, the Chinese escape craft, but there were Terraformars surrounding it, even some standing atop it, and worse yet, they bore the weaponry of the Chinese team, from rifles, to guns, to net launchers. And right beside the Chinese craft was one of the roaches that wore a rough-woven kilt holding a pole fashioned from stone that held a waving white flag. Whether this meant the Chinese team was slaughtered, or worse, Adolf didn't have time to guess. He turned to Isabella, seated right behind him.
"Isabella, come with me. The rest of you, you're not ready for this." That was when the bigger brother stood up and spoke, his voice deep with a sense of foreboding.
"Captain, isn't this why you brought us along?" he asked. Adolf didn't hesitate to reply.
"I need you two to hang back in case things get worse." That was when the slightly smaller, wiry sibling stood up and spoke. Unlike his brother's, his voice was refined, calculated, and his words to the point.
"The cockroaches out there are armed with the Chinese team's weapons. With all due respect, captain, things are about as bad as they can get." None of the other team members spoke as Adolf seemed to stare down the pair before he spoke, a firmness that was felt by all.
"My order still stands. Stand down until you are needed. Am I understood?" A second went past, then both took their seats once more. Satisfied, Adolf went out while Isabella eyed them with suspicion and a sneering smirk. When they left, most of the team looked out the canopy to watch the captain and Isabella, while Sandra glanced back to look at the siblings, or rather the larger brother. But the glance was only an instant, as she refocused to outside the craft. Isabella and Adolf strode out into the middle of the depression and looked about. Seemingly hundreds of the cockroaches lined the edge of the depression, some training their weapons on the pair. "Care to start, Isabella?" Adolf asked.
"Thought you'd never ask," Isabella replied with a wolfish grin. In her hand was a syringe that she stuck in the side of her neck, pushing on the plunger. The drug inside courses through her system, once more activating the implanted genes in her cells, activating her startling transformation as she bore the features of her chosen organism. The pelting rain's sting lessened on her hardened hide skin as she took a more aggressive stance. There was movement, however, among the throng of cockroaches facing Isabella along the ridge. They seemed to sway, then moved as an even larger individual moved past them. It looked male, like the rest of its brethren, but was large even for a Terraformars; it stood a head and a half taller than the others, while its limbs were twice as large as its fellows, but what was striking is that its biceps were wrapped in thin, braided cloth. Isabella smirked, relishing the challenge to come, but Adolf was more cautious, bordering on apprehensiveness, for he had read reports and heard of the possibility of the cockroaches evolving further, becoming smarter and stronger. And looking at the oncoming individual it seemed to lend credence to the theory. Isabella strode onward towards her coming adversary, still smirking. "Your legs, arms, head, which do you want taken first?" she asked in an almost playful manner. She then leapt up and spun around, preparing to land a spin-kick on her target, when it happened. Faster than one could blink, the Terraformars struck with its right arm, or more precisely, it blocked the kick and then knocked Isabella out of the air with the same arm at almost the same time in what looked like a casual manner. Isabella fell back to the ground, momentarily stunned before she picked herself up, her smirk gone as she looked up at her stoic adversary. With a growl, she lunged forward with a series of hand strikes aimed at the chest and abdomen, but the cockroach blocked and deflected them with seeming ease, for it did so with one hand. Isabella struck with a high kick, but the cockroach caught her leg by the ankle and squeezed, making Isabella groan in pain until the cockroach reposition its hand to where Isabella's foot was pointed upward at an unnatural angle followed by a sound that was like a crack of thunder, followed by Isabella wailing into the sky. The cockroach released her and she fell once more to the ground, this time holding her broken leg in both hands as she rolled, groaning and whimpering. Adolf called out Isabella's name in shock, those watching from inside the craft were gripped in shock: Antonio and Enrique were visibly shook, Mirapix brought her hands to her mouth as she watched wide-eyed while Rachel shook her head as though she denied the reality of the situation. Vera just whispered "It's not happening," in a soft voice, while Fritz gripped the armrests tightly as he grit his teeth. The two brothers, however, watched on with measured expressions, the taller turning to the skinnier and speaking lowly.
"Almost showtime." The wiry one nodded, taking a pair of half-rimmed glasses and placing them on his face.
"If we act too soon, we'll be violating orders. But I don't think he can afford to keep holding us back like this."
"At some point, we'll have to act on our own," the bigger one added. "Probably when Adolf's back is in the corner." The wiry one nodded.
"When he realizes that he can't save us all on his own, but not before he gives it his best shot." On the battlefield, Isabella was struggling to get back on her feet, but her right foot was still bent upward at just above the ankle, forcing her back down on her belly as she groaned aloud. Adolf raced to her, reaching from within his coat and throwing several metallic objects at the cockroach. They were knives, six inches in length, but curiously were attached with wires at the base of their hilts leading back to Adolf. There was a mist, a cloud formed in front of Adolf's face, but he innhaled it through his mouth and nostrils, his face that was ruined on his left side. In that instant, Adolf's own abilities activated and several thousands' worth of volts coursed through the wires and into the cockroach. Its insides liquified and turned to ash, while its exoskeletal hide blackened, its eyes popped and exploded from their sockets. The surging electricity ceased, and a second later the hulking corpse fell to its side, smoldering, while Adolf helped Isabella up on his shoulder and hobbled back to the craft as quick as they could. However, the giant's death acted as a signal for the others, for those armed with rifles and guns fired at the pair. However, Adolf was able to use his ability in another fashion: Taking the genes of Electrophorus electricus, aka the electric eel, Adolf is able to generate massive amounts of electricity, able to channel it as a surge from his body, along the metal cables on his weapons, or as a field around a certain amount of area around his body as a forcefield. As he hobbled with Isabella, Adolf generated an intense electro-magnetic field around them, strong enough to make bullets bounce off it like an unseen steel wall, until they reached the craft. Vera opened the door and they both went in, Isabella still screaming from the pain she was in. She was brought to the seats behind the captain's chair, the armrest between them raised as she lied down, resuming to clutch her ruined leg. Rachel and Mirapix looked away with tears in their eyes, Antonio and Enrique held their mouths in shock while Vera just looked on helplessly as Adolf tried to straighten her leg out. The only other one who had taken action was Sandra, who came forward and helped trying to straighten Isabella's leg. She saw the damage done to it, but something else gripped her, her training took over as she grabbed a medical kit and opened it, taking a syringe and a small ampoule of amber-colored liquid. Already, Isabella's transformation had worn off and she reverted back to being fully human, which intensified the pain even more. Sandra then stuck Isabella with the needle and injected her with the contents of the ampoule.
"What's that?" Rachel asked.
"Morphine, for the pain," Sandra said calmly. Isabella's screams lessened to small whimpers, her grip on her leg lessened. "We need to reset it," she said, turning to Adolf. He and held Sandra down, turning to Antonio.
"We need you over here, now!" Antonio nodded and walked almost sheepishly over. "I need you to push down on her leg to straighten it. If you don't, she'll never walk again."
"But, but I…" Antonio started. Adolf then stood back up, stared Antonio right in the eyes as he gripped him tightly.
"Listen to me!" Adolf bellowed. "One of your teammates is in agony, and you right now are the only one who can help. Are you going to continue to let her suffer like this?" Antonio looked down at Isabella, who went from wailing to moaning softly, turning back and forth. Antonio then took a deep breath and nodded at Adolf. The tall German then went back to hold down Isabella as Antonio gripped her foot. Adolf counted to three, and on the third count Antonio pushed down with all he had. A loud crack was heard, and Isabella winced in pain and arched her back, while her foot was back in the correct position once more, a great bruise in the shape of a circle just above her ankle.
"Why didn't it kill her, though?" Rachel asked aloud.
"They may want us alive, or at the very least somewhat intact," Adolf answered.
"Why" Pirapix asked. Adolf looked up at her.
"For the same reason why we have our abilities," he replied. A chill was felt in the air when Adolf said this. A blow struck the side of the craft, rocking it, while a pelting noise, louder than the rain, sounded from all around. The cockroaches have started their assault. Outside, the ones armed fired with their guns and rifles, even hurling large rocks and stones at the insect-shaped craft.
"They're not going to let us leave," Rachel said. "They're going to get us," she whimpered.
"Get a grip!" Adolf said. "We're not dead yet!"
"But sir, you're the only combat-type here!" Antonio said.
"No, he's not." Heads turned to to the large man and his brother. "Captain," he said, his eyes narrowing. Adolf looked down, considering his options as he looked at Isabella, she still moaned and rolled in the seats before him, while Sandra had done up a make-shift splint for her leg. Just then, something else struck the craft, this time with enough force to make it tilt, making everyone hold onto something in a panic. Another blow, and the whole craft finally tilted over onto its side. The resulting crash threw everyone about. Adolf struck his head against the captain's chair, making his vision swim and darken. Sandra felt her skull strike against something, making her vision blurred and a ringing to form in her ears. When she felt stable enough, she tried to stand back up, finding her legs shaky as she stepped forward towards the control center, and the newly-formed hole in the canopy. She saw Rachel look in from the outside and she reached her hand out to her. She took it, and felt herself being pulled until she felt the rain on her face and she fell to her knees once more. Sandra's eyes fluttered as her head swam and pounded as though it were being used as a door mat. With a groan, she touched her head and brought it away with a sharp hiss and saw that her fingertips were red. Her vision was still swimming as she tried to get up from her seat, her hearing muted and dulled but gradually coming back into focus along with her eyesight. She found herself lying on the ground, rain falling around her as she picked herself up. Looking about, she could see her fellow teammates from Squad 5 trying to fight back the hulking, looming figures that towered over them as they amassed upon them like a flood. She turned and almost ran into one; It stood more than twice her height, looking down with vaguely human features save for the large circular eyes, brown body, twitching antennae, and massive physique. It lunged forward with an arm and grabbed her, throwing her over its shoulder as she screamed and tried to break free of its grip, but to no avail. She saw her captain, Adolf Reinhardt, slumping down on the ground as Vera tried to prop him up and wake him from his stupor. She saw death closing around her from all sides as the hulking forms surrounded her, and she thought of her son and how she came here to this desolate place to save him, and it drove her to almost madness as she struggled to free herself. However, it was then, in the din of chaos, that she saw them. The two brothers stood before Adolf as he stood back up, his vision blurry as he groaned. "With all due respect, captain, now it's our turn." the large one said. With a growl, Adolf said only one word.
"Go." The bigger sibling bore a grin that looked suited on a demon as he cracked his knuckles.
"Shawn, we have finally arrived," he said in a growling voice. The other sibling stepped forward, and he too bore a slight smile that cracked his otherwise stoic face.
"Time to finally do what they made us for, Ben," he replied. Both had a syringe and injected themselves in the neck. The transformation they underwent was a drastic one. The hulking one's hide changed, becoming a dark green as it sported what looked like scutes on various parts of his body, like armor plates, while a large tail sprouted from the base of his spine, erupting out of his white and silver suit and thrashing about, as his physique more than tripled in size. His eyes became blood red as his teeth became sharp and dagger-like. The other got a little taller, and his boots opened up to allow his transformed feet more freedom as they took on a more bird-like quality, becoming scaled and slender while the inner toes was raised and became more hook-like. He sported a tail as well, but his was more erect and straight, and covered in feathers, as was the rest of his body. His eyes were blood red, his mouth full of sharp teeth as well. Ben reached behind and unsheathed his sword, a double bladed that was almost twice the length of a man's arm and twice as thick with a wide hand-guard. Steven reached behind his waist and pulled out a pair of curved daggers, each the length of an adult's forearm. Ben let loose a bellow into the air, garnering the attention of all around him and his brother as it seemed to echo for miles, for it was the roar of challenge, the signal that someone had come to subjugate this world and all who live here.
"Let's make a blood bath of them," Ben growled, his voice more gravelly. Steven crouched somewhat, then dashed forward quicker than the eye could see into the throng of cockroaches. As he ran, he slashed outward with his daggers, cutting and slicing limbs off. Meanwhile, Ben ran into a cluster of cockroaches and began swinging his sword with reckless abandon, hacking off limbs, heads, even cutting a cockroach in half. The ground grew slick with dark green blood, innards and guts were trampled into the soil as limbs and body parts littered the battlefield. All around him, the hacked and twitching corpses littered the ground as still more of the cockroaches came, but their focus was now trained on him and Shawn. As they came at him, came for him, Ben gathered himself and let loose another roar. It was a war cry, a song of death that has not been heard since the birth of the Red Planet that was now stained with blood.