"Spear Crew, Shield Crew; Line up, descent begins!"
The Spear and Shield crew lines of both squads joined, while the Extraction crews talked amongst themselves, the veterans drilling the newcomers on the ways of the camp.
Li and Naryssa sat with the others, gathered around the large, fur-covered Extraction Captain in a dimly lit, worn-down stone chamber. Crates lined the walls, some sealed, others broken open, their contents long since looted or decayed.
Perched atop one of the crates sat something small.
Li's HUD flickered on, surprising him, as he focused. A human. A girl. No older than twelve or thirteen. Yet here she was, without a mask, without life support. Just tattered rags and the charred remnants of Guardian armor, the plating warped and blackened beyond recognition.
She looked down at them, amusement in her gaze, as if she knew something they didn't.
In the farthest corner of the room, a shadow loomed, appearing to lean against the wall.
Li's HUD failed to register it. Not humanoid. Not machine. His visor strained to process its form, but it was just—there. An unmoving, suffocating presence pressed into the wall.
The Captain began speaking.
His deep voice rumbled through the room, and their suit systems auto-translated the alien language into crisp, mechanical words in their earpieces.
"The surface is mostly safe. But something is missing here—something the Hive cannot live without. It exists below, but not above. This is why, unless absolutely necessary, you are NOT to bring ANYTHING up to the surface. NO SOUVENIRS. THE MEMORY OF YOUR DEAD FRIENDS WILL BE ENOUGH."
The chamber fell into silence, the weight of his words settling over them.
His voice dropped, firm and final.
"I don't know what worthless weapons or outdated techniques you were trained with before, but moving on, all Extraction crew members will be using these!"
The girl tossed the massive gun down without a word. It dropped straight into the Captain's waiting hands, landing with a solid clang.
Rust covered most of its surface, its metal worn and battered, yet it held a presence unlike any ordinary weapon. The smooth barrel ended in a sharp arrow, a tightly wound coil running along its length in a precise, almost deliberate pattern.
At its center, a spherical compartment whirred with a faint hum, floral engravings lining its edges—delicate, almost out of place against the war-torn frame. The barrel, though rusted, bore intricate etchings of alien landscapes, remnants of a forgotten world.
And then, the bayonet. A blade too new for the rest of the weapon, gleaming with some faint crystal light.
It seemed strange that this was going to be given out to so many new crew members but Li soon got his answers,
"We've burned through ten crews with these Aldain-plasmic Superaccelerators. Old Lost World tech, but it works here. Simple enough—press the firing pin, point the lance, don't stand in front. It feeds on whatever those things down there run on and rips straight through their pincers. Don't lose them. Supply's drying up, and the Vault won't bankroll another spree."
A smaller Guardian piped up, a sneaky persuasive voice even before translated
"Vault always appreciate, no worry. Take loan, good business, haha."
A few chuckles. A murmur of disgust.
Then, Naryssa's voice crackled through his helmet, private channel.
"Vault plant. They put him here to push loans. More of our Tyrian payment in Standard? Straight to the Vault's pockets. That's what gets me. End of the day, it's always about the Standard."
The Extraction Captain looked at the Guardian with Scorn, evident hatred of the "Vault" tinged his speech.
"Tell your Vault buddies to start fucking funding the opposition on my home planet before you get me to take a loan. Yeah, you know where I'm from, now sit the fuck down."
Li had to smirk, the Extraction Captain was fluent in English, or at least had somewhat of a better translating system than the other Guardian who sat down without another word.
A loud voice suddenly shouted in Li's helmet.
"L98 EXTRACTION CREW, DOWN ENTRY 15! L98 EXTRACTION CREW, DOWN ENTRY 15!"
The call blared in unison through every communicator. The Extraction Captain smirked, tossing the guns without ceremony. The Guardians scrambled for their own and bolted.
Naryssa caught up to Li, speaking through the comms. "This is it, I guess!"
They merged with the rushing crowd, descending a broad stone stairway, its depths swallowed by darkness and choking gas. Then came the tunnel—narrow, oppressive—before they reached the drop. One by one, they grabbed hold of a frayed rope, vanishing into the void.
"Extraction Crew leader here. Those in front, follow me. Those behind, stay with the group. No sightseeing—just move."
The walls mirrored their training simulations, yet something was off. The dim blue glow revealed remnants of doorways, old dwellings etched into the rock. Faint engravings hinted at what the Tyrians once were. But what stood out was the black.
Thin, oily veins clung to the stone—small at first, like dried streaks of tar. But as they pressed deeper, the formations grew, connecting through cracks in the walls, creeping from holes in the floor.
The path twisted. More passageways appeared—too many. They were no longer in a simple corridor but what looked like an ancient underground market, its stalls long abandoned. The air grew colder. Then, the ground tilted.
Li's pulse spiked. They weren't just running forward anymore. They were running sideways.
The ledge beneath them curved along the cavern wall, and below—only abyss. The bluish hue painted the vast emptiness, offering no comfort.
Li leaned toward the stone, breath tight. If he slipped, he wouldn't be coming back.
It was as if something large was watching beneath.
As Naryssa sprinted ahead, a small stone tumbled into the void. Li barely registered the faint splash before realizing—there was liquid below.
Something massive shifted beneath the surface. Or maybe it was his imagination.
The crew veered into another corridor, now sloping downward. His ears ached from the pressure, despite the suit's automatic balancing.
Shouts rang out ahead. Moments later, a group of T88 Extraction and Shield crews barreled past, their movements sluggish with exhaustion. Their faceplates were fogged with sweat, their expressions hidden.
As they passed, blood and other fluids splattered onto Li. No one said a word.
The descent felt endless—running, dropping through shortcuts, then running again.
Then, the tunnel tightened. The air grew thick with tension.
A cry from the front.
The crowd scattered.
Naryssa and Li skidded to a stop, but a hulking Guardian behind them nearly sent Li sprawling. Before he could regain his footing, the walls on either side vanished, revealing a massive, gleaming mass of black matter.
And it moved.
Sickening, chitinous bodies emerged—insectoids.
They poured out in waves, each grotesque form distinct but classed. Hardened shield-bearers blocked the path, their carapaces like living armor. A bloated mini-queen pulsed in the center, birthing soldier after soldier in a grotesque, unending cycle.
Then came the assault beasts—man-sized, armored monsters tearing through the Guardians with terrifying speed.
Gunfire lit up the tunnel, but the chaos made clean shots impossible. Every missed shot was a risk to their own.
The comms erupted with shouts, curses, and screams.
The trap had sprung. And it was working.
In the anime and movies, it always looked easy. But now, Li struggled to aim. The chaos was overwhelming, and he hesitated. The gun felt heavier in his grip.
Then, through the madness, he saw her.
The mini-queen loomed above, her sickly body forcing out soldier after soldier. No Guardians were airborne—she was exposed.
Li fired.
The beam grazed her.
Frustration burned, but he had no time to aim again. Survival came first.
He turned amidst the fading chaos. The battle was nearing its end. The leader, chosen for a reason, moved with precision but took his time. Advancing from the front, he left behind a slow-burning trail of flame, consuming the writhing black mass.
Two of his trusted sub-leaders followed closely, ensuring every kill was final. One, wielding a massive rotary cannon, tore through the swarm with relentless firepower.Half-melted red-hot bullets whizzed past Li, barely missing him, but finding their mark in the reproductive core of the mini-queen. The once-deafening battlefield fell into eerie silence, broken only by ragged breaths and groans of pain.
The walls were gone. The swarm, reduced to smoldering husks.
Li exhaled heavily and collapsed to the ground. Training had been brutal, but nothing compared to the real terror of death.
Nearby, Naryssa knelt, her chest rising and falling in shallow gasps. At her feet lay the body of an insectoid soldier, its lifeless eyes reflecting the flickering embers of their victory.