Leaving the dead ghouls behind, not even stopping to remove the teeth, but pausing to mark the dead scout, the rest of the group moved on. Now that they had finally engaged with the enemy the tension had lessened somewhat. As if the build-up was worse than the actual event.

"Movement up ahead," Virtus warned. "Getting multiple shadows on the wall. Lighting appears to be good."

"We're approaching an old pumping station. I heard that some urbexers were using it as a base," Winston commed over the group chat. "They've kept it up, expanded it slightly. Called themselves the Snow Leopards. They were good. Experienced. Helped us out once. Not good if they're dead." Mai found the way that Winston spoke especially jarring. It was as if he didn't truly know how to construct a natural sentence. Not even the most basic of robot speech modules spoke like this.

"Scouts, pull back, rear guard join us. Three lines extended. Three fighters in front, six in the middle, two at the rear" Bob ordered as he marked the lines on their retinal monitors. Mai and Andries were at the opposite sides of the main line, and Mai realised that it was deliberate. He and Mai were the two weakest members and having them in the centre of the line made no sense. Where they were meant that they could carry out flanking and back stabbing attacks whilst the rest acted as tanks.

Thank fuck I'm not in the centre, she thought as she realised the implications. If the attack was too heavy, the scouts would fold back, allowing Bob's line to advance.

"Lines, advance ten paces." Bob indicated the spot. They advanced, then paused. He pushed them forward another twenty paces. Now everyone could see the shadows dancing on the walls. One of them was massive, at least three times as tall as the others. "Progenitor. If they attack, scouts and rearguard deal with the jiangshi and ghouls. Main line, deal with the Progenitor. We’ll kill that, the others automatically take a fifty per cent hit to their health on top of any damage they’ve already received. You’ve got skills, activate them now."

Mai activated SEWER COMBAT, TUNNEL FIGHTER and FREERUNNING, hoping that the bonuses they would infer in the battle to come would keep her, and her friends, alive. The lines continued to advance, not stopping now that they had a clear plan. As they got closer, the vibrations of the ghouls started, and Mai realised it was less of an attack and more of a form of communication. There was a deeper, bone seeping, vibration that started to make its way through her body.

"Song of the Progenitor. How they communicate. She's singing to her children," said Winston over the party chat. "Ignore it. Can't harm."

Mai felt better knowing what was causing her bone marrow to feel as though it had been turned to jelly but was slightly unsettled at the thought he might have been reading her mind. Coming to the bend where the light was coming from, Mai spotted glyphs sprayed onto the walls, announcing to all and sundry that this was Snow Leopard territory. And then they rounded the corner.

"Oh fuck me," breathed one of the other hunters. Mai wholeheartedly agreed. there wasn't really anything she could have added to that statement to make it any more meaningful. Two ghouls and six jiangshi were arranged in a loose circle around the most hideous creature she had ever seen. And considering how gruesome ghouls were, that was saying something. It was as if someone had crossed a wasp, spider, and a baby, merging them into a slime-coated beast.

STATUS EFFECT - INTIMIDATED!

-5% TO HIT

The status popped up onto her retinal monitor and she cursed at the reinforcement for what she was already feeling. There was no need to tell her things like this.

"Looks like we're on a bug hunt!" cried out the man next to her. Taking a quick look, she was surprised to see that he actually looked eager to get into the fight.

The brood ahead of them paused, the vibro-song of the progenitor coming to a sudden stop. Replacing it was a silence that went beyond palpable and which took on an entire identity of its own. Both groups stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but which her retinal monitor informed her was only seconds. It ended just as abruptly. Roaring, bass tones making her teeth feel as though they were going to fall out, the progenitor sent its children into battle.

Leaping into action, the two ghouls, able to move much faster than the jiangshi, surged along the tunnel. Behind them the jiangshi took great leaps through the air.

"Scouts! Take the ghouls! Rear guard move forward!" Bob ordered. Virtus raced through the effluent in this part of the tunnel so quickly it seemed to part as if a ship passed through it, leaving her fellow scouts struggling to keep up. The rear guard passed through the main line's ranks and took up position. "Advance! Rear guard to help the scouts."

Legs trembling, wanting to be anywhere but in the tunnel at that moment, Mai forced herself to take first one, then another step. And then, strangely, she found it hard not to charge with the others already moving. To not meet the challenge offered by the hideous creatures before them and charge into battle whilst screeching out a war cry. There was a clash as the scouts and rear guard met the ghouls head on, SOAK bars on both sides taking hits immediately. Only seconds later the jiangshi hit the small group, and battle was well and truly joined.

"Main line! Charge! Get to the progenitor!" Bob didn't wait for an acknowledgement, just started running as if he had no doubt they'd followed. Getting caught up in the energy surrounding her, Mai charged forward, finally giving voice to a visceral scream that felt as though it would tear her vocal chords. Charging past Virtus and her people, dodging blows when necessary, Bob led his line into battle with the progenitor.

Up close, the progenitor was even more intimidating. A musk filled the air, which somehow managed to penetrate even her hazmat mask. It was both heady and disgusting at the same time. It confused her to be both attracted and repulsed. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Wings buzzed as the progenitor rose slightly off the floor, a large stinger hanging from its body, poison glistening in the light. Its eight legs ended in large hook-like claws with serrated edges pointing away from the tips. Its baby-like face giggled and made cooing noises and it opened the two pudgy little arms beneath its head as if asking for a cuddle.

"If this is a nightmare, wake me the fuck up now," commed Andries.

"Line split! Flank around it!" Bob ordered, angling towards the left, whilst the other three with Andries went right. And then the progenitor struck. It was as if Mai had blinked, but then time had sped up whilst her eyes were shut. One moment the progenitor was over twenty paces away from them, the next it was in their midst. Eight spider-like legs striking out in all directions, the stinger jabbed forward, its entire body folding in ways Mai wouldn't have thought possible to drive the stinger deep through the throat of one of Andries' colleagues. The woman didn't even have time to scream as the pace-long stinger was ripped back out, her SOAK and HEALTH bars immediately dropping to zero.

"Blink leaps! It can only do them every ten seconds! Interrupt by striking the moment before it does it!" Bob's voice was still calm, if a little out of breath from their recent charge.

Mai thrust her staff at one of the legs, hoping to hit the knee, but another shot out and blocked her staff. It was a powerful blow, completely spinning her and sending a shock down the staff which made her hands sting. Without thought she dropped low, narrowly avoiding its follow-up attack. Pushing herself back up and around she tried to attack again.

HIT! 0.1% DAMAGE

Its health bar didn’t even move, the amount of damage so miniscule.

Bollocks, I'll be long dead before I manage to do any real damage! she thought as she looked at its HEALTH and SOAK bars, both of which were still up at the top end of the green.

"Explosive!"

Andries' warning came just before a shockingly loud explosion filled the tunnel, shockwave knocking her back onto her arse. Another member of the group threw what looked like a bottle with a burning rag in the neck. Smashing against the progenitor, which now had a STAGGERED glyph showing, it showered liquid over the slimy carapace before the rag ignited it.

"Molotov’s don't work!'' The worker reported, "that slime's fire proo .." he didn't get to finish as a leg hooked into his back and pulled him straight into the arms of the baby. A tongue shot forward, punching through his nose before a stomach-churning slurping noise audible over even the sounds of the battle reached her.

Another explosive detonated and the progenitor screeched in pain, its HEALTH and SOAK bars dropping by roughly five per cent. It was too hard to tell. Its limbs flicked out towards her once more and she activated her FREERUNNING, flipping over one attack before rolling under another. A third limb brushed her as she rolled, the impact knocked her under the progenitor. Whereas the back and sides of the beast were covered in slime-coated carapace, the belly was soft, the colour of pus and blood. She could actually see veins pulsing with purple blood.

Fuck it, she thought and thrust her fat cutter up as sharply as she could. It struck, the hideous skin dimpling further and further inwards until, with a pop she felt more than heard, her blade sank deep into the creature's underbelly.

HIT! 10% DAMAGE

BLEED @5% PER SECOND

Seeing its health bar jump towards the left gave her a surge of energy. Pulling her blade free, she was blinded by the gore that flooded out of the wound she'd opened in its body.

"Drop!" Mai didn't recognise the voice, but she wasn't going to ignore it. Throwing herself into the shallow sludge, she felt the cloth of her hazmat suit ripple as something large passed over-head.

"Get under the damned thing! It's how you hurt it!" she screamed over the party chat. "Explosives, underneath!"

"Roll to your right now!" ordered Bob. Yet again she didn’t stop to think, just followed his order. She kept rolling until she hit the side of the tunnel. There was a series of explosions and the sound of a child in mortal agony, then a silence broken only by the sound of panting over the party chat.

KILL ASSIST!

PROGENITOR SLAYER!

500 KARMA! THE EMPEROR SMILES UPON YOU!

BOUNTY +1000 UC

"Quick! Virtus needs help!" Winston sounded hurt. Mai pushed herself to her feet and charged towards her. Virtus was the only one of her group still standing despite HEALTH and SOAK bars in the red, along with BLEED and POISON glyphs hanging over her head. Ducking under a blow from a jiangshi, Mai skidded to a halt next to Virtus. Placing her hands on the woman she activated her own HEAL SERIOUS WOUNDS, willing her nanites to help the woman, assuming that if she'd been able to heal herself she would have by now.

It hurt far more than she thought it would as the nanites raced out of her body and into Virtus. Nerves burning, Mai gave a slight cry as the nanites continued to flow from her. Checking her retinal monitor she saw that her BIO-MASS was taking a massive hit, she was already down by fifty per cent and there didn't seem to be an end in sight.

"Stop Mai! Save some for yourself," gasped Virtus as her HEALTH bar leapt back into the green.

NEW TITLE!

BENEFACTOR!

YOU HELP THOSE TRULY IN NEED!

Screeches filled the tunnel as the rest of the party finished off the creatures that Virtus and her scouts had been fighting. Laying there, the scout patted Mai's hand as she slowly regained her strength, her own HEALING skills kicking in now that she had enough nanites.

"You look tired, the both of you," Bob said from behind Mai. "That was quick thinking young'un. You saved her life and risked yours to do it. Always make sure you know how much you're willing to HEAL someone before you actually heal them. And make sure that you have enough BIO-MASS, otherwise the nanites will completely leave your body and you'll have none to HEAL yourself."

His large hand rested on her shoulder. "I'd be proud to have you on my crew."

Mai said nothing, she was too tired but her heart burst with pride at his words. Coming from someone as high a level as him, and with such experience, those few words were the highest compliment she'd ever been paid in her life. She opened her pack and pulled out a couple of protein bars. Offering one to Virtus, she ripped the packaging off her own and wolfed it down, barely taking the time to chew. It only gave her a two per cent BIO-MASS boost, so she pulled out another and ate that as quickly as possible.

"Here, try this. It's special. I owe you," Virtus said as she handed Mai what looked like a water bottle. "It's a special-brew rice wine. Warms the cockles of your soul, whilst giving you a ten per cent BIO-MASS boost. Sorry I can't offer you more."

Mai waved a hand, she didn’t think they'd be facing another battle now that they'd killed off the HOST, but it was nice to get the wine into her. Not only did it boost her BIO-MASS, it also took the edge off the massive adrenaline rush she'd gone through, soothing her, stopping her hands from shaking quite so much.

"Damn, that's good," she handed the bottle back, enjoying the long, peppery finish.

"If you two have finished boozing, we need to get back,” Andries stood looking down at them. With weary sighs, and pained groans, the two women let him help them to their feet.