The comfort of the nearby hanger wall was tantalisingly close now, and all it took to get there was an uneventful sprint across the last bit of open ground. Reaching the pale grey concreate wall, I hugged it's face and traversed left towards the centre where a sturdy metal service door was placed. That was our entry point. Everyone stacked up on the door, forming two neat lines either side of the thick metal door. I pressed my ear up against the cold rough surface of the wall in an attempt to hear through to the inside of the giant structure, but I got nothing in return. It also appeared abandoned, with no opening for light to escape from. For all intensive purposes, it appeared to be empty, I knew it wasn't going to be.

"It's locked." Came a voice from the crowd, trying to move the heavy steel door without so much as a budge.

"Then get a charge on it." Colter swiftly replied. The solider did as instructed, taking a small silver charge from his back pocket and sticking it to the door itself with a magnetic clunk.

"Charge set!" The solider yelled, as he stepped aside, making sure he, and anyone else, wasn't in the way of the blast.

Two seconds later, the charge detonated with an almighty bang, I could feel the shockwave pass through the wall and into my right shoulder as the heavy door was blown off its hinges and sent flying inside. I was glad to be this side of the door.

"You've only blown the bloody door off!" Colter shouted in his best cockney accent, which got a well needed chuckle from the rest of the squad, but we didn't have much time to savour it as just milliseconds later we were moving inside. I reached the door-frame and passed through the grey cloud of smoke that had replaced the door. My body was responding to the years of training and drills, moving quickly and with purpose, sweeping my rifle in long sideways movements across the room, covering the arcs of fire that others hadn't.

The room, or should I say hanger, opened out before me along with a collection of sturdy storage containers and crates. With its large entrance door to my right being tightly shut, the vast space was sealed off from the fighting outside. Stretching across the length of the curved ceiling was a long florescent light that cast a pure white glow over everything inside. My eyes had to take a few seconds to adjust to the sudden change in brightness, but my legs continued to move, pushing into the indoor space as much as possible.

We may have been separated from the fighting outside, but we were in no way safe, as rounds started to pepper our position only seconds after passing inside. Taking cover next to one of the nearby storage crates I tried to get a fix on the enemy's location.

Quickly I caught sight of them; across the vast opening of space in the middle of the hanger I could see the scuffle of enemy soldier's amongst the various containers. My body responded to the threat as expected, firing profusely in the direction of the danger,sending one piercing shot after another as the barrel of my rifle began to glow red with heat.

However I had no idea if they were being effective as each shot was getting lost amongst the hundreds that were already flying around the hanger as the rest of my squad responded to the threat in very much the same way. Not to mention the enemy's return efforts. A few squad mates went down, I didn't bother to check who, the only thing I was concerned with was identifying as many enemy units as possible. Every time I caught a glimpse of movement on the enemy's side of the hanger, I updated the local radar with its position and highlighted it on my visual feed. My rifle would then in turn send a smattering of rounds towards these highlights. Seconds, or even hours went by, it was hard to tell, but eventually my gun was empty and needed a reload.

Bringing the rifle so close to my chest that I could feel the heat radiating from the glowing barrel, I slumped down behind the container and my hands went about the task of swapping magazines. It was a routine task that my body was used to, being muscle memory at this point. So it didn't take long and once it was done, my head was poking above cover yet again looking at the carnage in front of me. Amongst the flashes and covering of smoke I could see more of those dark green crates, placed along the hangers nearby wall, and as far as I could tell they were free from enemy activity. It was just what I was looking for, a way to push forward that didn't involve charging like a member of the light brigade across the open space that parted the two armies.

Quickly, almost without thinking I used my holographic display to map out a route through the crates that offered the most amount of cover, giving me the best chance of survival. After sending the route to the rest of my squad my legs began to move, following the holographic line that weaved its way through the maze of crates and containers.

My weapon stock being pressed firmly against my shoulder, my body moved as fast as it dared, darting from cover to cover. I was keeping watch for any sudden movements, as much as this was a good place to push the enemy, it was also a perfect place for an ambush.

"Right behind you." Maxine said, her voice once again being like a hit of fresh air amongst the sounds of war. I didn't turn around to confirm her statement but just the knowledge I had someone at my back was enough to spur me on.

"Ok, keep your eyes peeled. Check your corners, perfect place for an ambush this." I replied. Taking the time to check my heart rate, it was holding at a steady 90 beats per minuet, a rate that would be expected from a trained soldier in a battle situation, being just bellow that of a scared civilian. Good, I wouldn't need to use another hormone-node which I only had a limited number of.

The air was thick with tension, every second that passed and every corner that was checked seemed to linger on the mind far more than it should. It was a strange sensation, energised from the action, but not being able to just run around like a headless chicken, I had to contain myself and remain calm while still having adrenaline pumping through my veins. I don't recommend it.

However the unbearable tension was snapped in an instant, as I suddenly felt a tremendous pressure hit my chest and I was flung backwards through the air. Landing hard against the unforgiving concrete floor. If it hadn't been for my body armour absorbing most of the impact, my ribs would have definitely been shattered. I tried to take a breath but all the air had left my lungs. Gasping against the pain, I made a glance towards my vitals, everything was green, and thankfully I hadn't been shot. While I pulled myself together I caught a glimpse at what had sent me flying.

Looming over me like a like a thin mountain,stood a member of the Tarkid race, a species of highly developed mollusc that had been a thorn in humanity's side for the past 6 standard Earth years. Having started this war in the first place, they seemed hell-bent on wiping out every man, woman and child they could find, launching raid after raid on human colonies throughout the galaxy.

The best way to describe what a Tarkid looks like is to imagine a normal garden slug that has grown a pair of legs and arms, stands about 7 foot tall with the long eye stalks and antenna placed where the head should be. Along with formidable physical strength that came from the fact that they were essentially completely made out of muscle, the Slugs also had a highly adaptable skin that could change in response to its surroundings. Since the Slugs were fundamentally from the same family as the common garden snail, they had to maintain a certain level of hydration. This adaptable skin was perfect for this, maintaining a thin layer of mucus on the disgusting creatures skin, regardless of its surroundings, immediately removing the one obvious disadvantage to being a walking worm. It was easy to see why they had been given the rather unimaginative nickname of Slugs by the squaddies.

This particular Slug in question lunged towards me accompanied with a horrendous ghostly moan that seemed to shake my very soul. It didn't get far however, as the shots from Maxine's rifle sent it sprawling against the container, its oversized forearms spread open against the crude metal.

"Told you I was right behind you." She gulped, her hands now shaking.

After standing up I turned to face her. "Thanks!" I gasped against the throbbing pain in my chest.

"Don't mention it, come on let's get out of this maze!" she replied, the fear from her voice beginning to disappear, and for good reason, the rest of the squad were pushing up behind us, following the line I had previously set.

I got to my feet and proceeded to move with the rest. The squad's movements were impeccable, smoothly sweeping their rifles around, checking every corner and junction in the mess of containers. It was like being a member of an ant colony, with every individual moving within a set area, working as one. Everyone moved with purpose. In quick succession 3 more Slugs came bursting around the multitude of corners, echoing the eerie moan of the first, firing wildly into the squad with their clunky assault weapons, but everyone was together and coordinated so they didn't stand a chance. They were gunned down the second they appeared.

"Out-F*******-standing!" Colter bellowed, overjoyed with the efficiency and application of training. "Bloody marvellous everyone!"

Eventually, after sending a few more Slugs to sluggy heaven, we made it to the other side of the hanger, with the few remaining Slugs still being clustered around their side of the building. All we had to do now was clear out all the bad-guys around the exit. It was time to finish the job. Like a tidal wave the squad burst out of the maze of containers and ran the short distance to the exit door. There were a few concrete barriers surrounding the door, acting as cover for the remaining Slugs. Shots were flying on both sides. Luckily no one on our side was hurt. I jumped over the barrier, my rifle firing as I did. Once I was sure that all the threats were neutralized, I lowered my rifle, and activated an Oxytocin node, to bring my heart rate down to a more comfortable level since the last excursion had created a spike in cardio activity. Checking for any final stranglers, I was pleased to see nothing but friendly ID tags. The hanger was clear.