The explosions rocked the crouched soldiers, despite their heavy suits and securing themselves to several pairs of ribbed pillars that protruded at this point of the hallway. Panting, Page Durd checked the many camera signals from the micro drones he’d deployed minutes ago. The sounds of intense screeching distracted him but he had to make sure they’d all detonated or were at least accounted for before he let his Squire know they had the all clear. In the corner of his visor, he could see his fellow Bravo members aim their weapons down the hall where agent Rolo was busy fighting, darting in and out of their view with a trail of viscera behind him. One by one, the sound of screeching terrors were cut short until only a pained wail echoed down the dark hallway.

Page Durd gave Squire Rale the all clear and they slowly made their way forward, ready to fire at anything that wasn’t agent Rolo. The darkness slowly lifted as they approached the chamber where moments ago, violence raged like an angry storm. They saw the massive skulls of alien creatures spread throughout the room, their bodies burnt or severed in clean cuts. Black and green ichor painted the walls, giving off a faint glow as if the very blood these creatures pulsed with carried power. Squire Rale swallowed hard as he saw the large claws of these dead creatures laid about, glad not to have to fight them in head to head combat. On one side of the chamber where the light seemed dimmer, the final clicks of the Swarm warrior’s mandibles reached for agent Rolo, who held him in place with his mysterious sword. The blood that leaked from it’s pierced carapace bubbled and lost it’s vitality with every second, the shell cracking bit by bit as it squirmed in fear.

It’s cries died as the agent shoved his sword deeper into the metal wall and placed his clawed hand against the head of the warrior bug, a skin crawling crunch as something ate away at the shell of the creature. It’s mandibles opened and closed, slowing with every second until it’s head finally went limp. Something could be heard squirming inside the things head before crawling back into the hidden compartment of agent Rolo’s hand. Agent Rolo yanked his sword out of the creature and it’s body flopped to the ground, flicking the blood off of his blade and sheathing it. With the violet light gone, Squire Rale and the rest of Bravo squad felt a pressure ease off their minds, as if something was reaching out and squeezing them over time.

“Squire Rale, I have an idea where their queen resides. We must hurry before more warriors come or else the price of victory will be too high.”

“Yes sir! Just point us in the right dire-”

“All teams, we are under heavy assault! This is Alpha leader, we are suffering heavy casualties! Retreat back to the Nest! I repeat, retreat back to the Nest!” Concerned, Squire Rale turned to agent Rolo who began walking towards one of the open hallways leading back into darkness.

“Sir, Alpha is under attack! He’s ordered a retreat, the bugs are searching the ship for more of us.” Squire Rale said, his tone urgent. Agent Rolo whirled on him and pointed, his eyes narrowed into the dangerous glint of a predator.

“There’s no retreat until we find the queen! We kill the queen, we stop the Swarm. Otherwise, they all will die. Is that understood, Squire Rale?”

“Yes. Sir,” said Squire Rale through gritted teeth. He glanced at his soldiers and wondered how many would pay the ultimate price. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, squeezing the handle of his weapon with a firm grip.

“Alright Bravo, I don’t like this one bit but orders are orders. Hopefully, the other squads can hold it together until we’re done, but we finish what we started and in the process buy them some time. With a little luck, we’ll make it back in time just for dinner. Move out!” Stomping forward, Squire Rale turned to agent Rolo who nodded back grimly, no joy in seeing their resolute postures. Agent Rolo was about to cross the threshold when a loud swoosh bellowed out and a harpoon made out of what looked like bone punched through agent Rolo’s shoulder and sent him flying backwards.

“Agh!” Agent Rolo coughed up a large ball of crimson blood as the harpoon was pushed out from his landing. Blood poured out of the open wound but not as much as one would think given being skewered. Seeing he was still alive, Squire Rale’s training took over and lowered the status of the agent down from his priority list, leaving the current threat at its rightful place on top.

“Spread out! Get to cover and defend agent Rolo. Bravo team, light up that hallway!” Rushing to the large corpse of a nearby bug, Squire Rale popped out of cover and fired. Heavy bullets, flechette rounds and condensed energy weapons flowed down that hallway, the flashes of light illuminating a massive creature with four arms and covered in black chitten, a series of long, segmented tails flowing behind it’s two legs. It’s snarling mouth filled with needle-like teeth, thick armor covering it’s skull and several strange appendaged wiggling from out the back of its neck. Sparks erupted as the bullets bounced and scraped against its carapace uselessly. The light from the weapons reflected off of it’s hateful eyes as it turned its head back and forth, assessing them.

Despite the futility, Bravo team continued to fire their weapons until one of the Brutalizers pierced a gap in it’s armor, staggering it backwards while green blood spurted outwards. It recovered quickly however and regained it’s stance, the tentacles along it’s neck doing something out of sight. A moment later, the tentacles wrapped around to the front, carrying a long bone spear and shoving it into a slot in it’s upper right arm. Squire Rale saw all of that in the span of a few seconds and knew what was coming next.

“Everyone, duck in cover!” But he was already too late. Another swoosh bellowed out from the beast and into the chamber, but not before a shard of sharpened bone the size of a small spear punched through nearby cover and going straight through Page Ulied, her screams piercing through the channel. But like any G.U.N. soldier, she was far from any normal human like the ones rotting away on Earth. Rolling back into a firing position, she aimed her Brutalizer and held down the trigger, shooting for the arm that fired the harpoon. Trails of burning metal seared the distance as the large bullets travelled down the shaft of the creature's arms, blowing it out from the inside where it was less protected. It only took a few rounds before the tissue exploded out the back, leaving a trail of green blood behind and the arm hung loosely by its side. Enraged, the monster howled, it’s roar shaking the walls and resonating the bones of the armored soldiers. Then, it moved.

Charging down the hallway, their weapons still fired on target due to the suits' computerized aiming systems but it brushed them off for the most part, small flecks of the flechette rounds embedded themselves between the gaps of it’s protected carapace but did little to slow it down.

“Scatter! Watch out for friendly fire!” The beast charged forward, though only had eyes for Page Ulied. It continued its charge towards the wounded soldier who had yet to stop firing except to reload when it flicked it’s arms and three bladed extensions snapped out, extending its reach and lethality. It would only be another second before it reached her and the Squire couldn’t fathom the thought of losing her or any of his soldiers, not when he could do something about it. He always preached about making smart decisions and never do something stupid and heroic, but today would make him a hypocrit.

“Suit: enhance mobility and prepare for impact,” he said. Enhancing the performance capabilities wasn’t recommended but for short periods of time, such as performing evasive actions or when falling from great heights. But few Pages knew that they could combine effects for devastating results. The first command would enhance his mobility using powered jets around the suit, the other would harden and lock up the suit the moment before the computer system acknowledged an inevitable impact. Together, it made him a decent battering ram. With incredible focus, the Squire’s heart hammered in his ears as he watched the giant Swarm warrior charge with it’s bladed hands, waiting for a gap in its motion to tackle the thing. The moment came when the beast was but a stride away from his fearless Page. Sprinting forward, the jets on his back activated to maximum speed and he lowered his torso at the last second, spearing the monster at the waist with his shoulder. He could feel the suit tighten and his arms snapping to his chest as the world blurred around him before he was stopped abruptly upon impact.

***

Page Ulied watched as her death came for her, but she wouldn’t look away. In the brief moment before she was about to die, the world slowed down to almost a crawl. Her heart was beating rapidly enough that she couldn’t count them, firing off like a machine gun. She thought about her goals, her regrets. She thought about the passionate nights she had with her Squire, even though it was frowned upon she loved every private moment they had. Moments for love were few and far between for a G.U.N. soldier, she was happy to have a slice of that and the two of them were lucky to feel more than just lust from man and woman. She couldn’t help but smile and feel a little guilty that her last thoughts were of her and a man who vowed his love for her. But her death never came, the bladed arms outstretched towards her sliced at vacant space as it was forcibly shoved aside by something that blurred into it, a shower of sparks erupting as the screeching sound of metal on metal from the monster was forced on it’s back and the spines on its back snapped from the impact. It’s neck tentacles were trapped underneath its bulk and the bladed tails flailed out wildly until they smacked against Page Ulied and tossed her aside, her world white with pain. When she regained her vision, her eyes still blurry with tears, she saw the rest of Bravo team surrounding the grounded beast, holding back it’s arms as it roared and reached out with it’s jaws but failing to dislodge them. One of her comrades charged from the corner of her vision, probably Page Ness if the slightly red paint of his Pulverizer was any indication, and aimed his weapon just a few inches from the side of the monster’s face. Holding down the trigger, the weapon fired blasts of shotgun rounds one after another, green blood spraying out of its head in a fountain of blood, covering her fellow soldiers.

When the Page’s weapon ran out bullets and clicked uselessly, the monster was certainly dead with it’s head resembling a pile of blended meat, more like a stump of tissue to be honest. The soldier on it’s chest got up and pointed to Page Durd who reached into his pack from his position on one of the limp arms, handing over a cylindrical object. He waved the others away and tinkered with the object before shoving it down the dead creature's throat, walking over to the rest of the soldiers who had surrounded her and agent Rolo. A moment later, a loud bang came from the monster, expanding in a flash as blood and gore splashed out in smoking bits from it’s neck. She grimaced and tried to contain the urge to vomit, thankful she couldn’t smell the almost certain foul scent.

“Page Ulied, are you alright?” Blinking, Page UIied looked up at the sound of Squire Rale before repeating his question in her head. Looking down, she saw the bone spear still piercing her gut. The blood drained from her face as she thought about the damage done and wasn’t sure if she’d be okay or not.

“It seems to me that I might be boned, sir,” but even death couldn’t stop her from making a pun. Everyone groaned slightly and shook their heads while looking out for any other threats.

“If you can crack some jokes still then you must be okay. But just to be sure, stay still and let me take a look.” Still sitting on the ground, she didn’t say anything as he went behind her and plugged into her system. A few minutes passed by and she could feel the sweat trickling down her spine as she feared the worse. The pain wasn’t terrible but that might’ve been the automatic painkillers that have dosed her up enough to function but not affect her motor functions.

“Well, it looks like it missed your arteries and barely your kidney, but we can’t take it out until we get back to the Vulture’s Nest. For now, I’m going to have to cut the spear close to the base. Try not to move too erratic, I can’t have you doing more damage to your insides. Bravo four, place some charges around the other hallways, I don’t want another sneak attack and if one of those things attacks again, we’re screwed!” Page Durd saluted and went about with his favorite toys while Squire Rale pulled out a flame cutter, a super-hot torch used to melt thin walls of metal. She could feel the heat scorching her skin around the spear, but it didn’t take long before the shaft broke off. He threw it away and held a bottle of metallic spray that fused with the armor around the cut, sealing her from the open air outside. Standing up, he helped her back on her shaky feet and felt much better.

“Thank you, Rale,” she said quietly through the speaker.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, I thought I almost lost you. Keep it together and stay in the middle of the group, we’ll get back as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir,” she said with a light salute. He shook his head and walked over to agent Rolo who was standing over the fallen terror, his wound already sealed with some kind of pale paste.

“You took quite the hit, agent Rolo. Do we still proceed with the mission or do we retreat?”

The agent was silent as he slowly circled around the defeated specimen, observing it for any clues. He tapped it’s tough armor and fumbled with it’s extremeties before turning to Squire Rale.

“We need to hurry, Squire. This thing is much tougher than the warriors I fought in here and if there are more about it could be the end already. If that’s the case, we need to get to the Queen, now. You saved us all, Squire Rale. If we make it out of here in one piece, I’ll make sure to speak with my organization to see what we can do for you and your men, but time is of the essence. Is your team ready to move?” Squire Rale glanced towards Page Ulied and felt his heart twang nervously at the thought of fighting more of these beasts, but he was a soldier and he had orders.

“Just give us a few seconds and we’ll be ready to go. Bravo three, stop arming the hallways! Pack up Bravo team, we’re moving out!” Tired, but determined, the soldiers tightened up around a slightly limping Page Ulied and followed Squire Rale and agent Rolo down the hallway, leaving the chaos of the chamber behind.