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The late-night desert air felt prickly, charged with anticipation, as the camp finalized its defenses. Over the past few hours, the makeshift outpost transformed into a layered fortress, ringed with barricades and hidden incendiary charges. ARI’s voice crackled over the comms, relaying updates from two additional scout drones. Their overhead views fed directly into the outpost’s central holo-display, where Maximilian and Yao Guowei monitored every skittering movement of the approaching swarm.

“All right,” Maximilian barked, pointing to the flickering icons on the display. “The main mass is still closing from the south, but look here—part of them split off. They’re angling west. Probably trying to flank us by curving around the rock formations.”

Yao Guowei nodded grimly. “We’ll funnel the main group into the forward kill zone. But that flanking wave needs containment too.” He surveyed the map, where bright lines indicated pre-laid defensive zones. “Our fallback layers are set: once we can’t hold a position, we withdraw and trigger the incendiary charges. If they push us out of the inner ring, we’ve got the main corridor in the wreckage to make our last stand.”

At the outer perimeter, deployable barriers were interspersed with sections of scraps, plating and welded beams to form partial walls, interspersed with turrets and booby trapped breach points. Behind these stood newly-deployed turrets—dense, squat machines with rotating barrels—tied into ARI’s sensors. Just beyond, crates of incendiary canisters lay in wait, rigged to blow if the alien creatures breached the initial line.

Farther in, narrower lanes had been left intentionally clear of debris, funneled routes that led the invaders straight into crossfire. Each choke point was rigged with manual or remote-detonation charges. Teams of colonists, each armed with rifles and flamethrowers, watched from vantage spots behind stacked cargo modules or shallow trenches. Their orders were simple: hold until the position threatened to be overrun, then pull back and light the place up.

In the center, a sloping ramp led into the wreck’s interior, where the remains of the main corridor had been hastily fortified. The thick plating of the old shielded crew area would prove to be a formidable barrier. If all else failed, that corridor would become a final kill box, with survivors retreating inside while the beetles funneled into direct turret and weapon fire.

The three vehicles—two rovers and the hauler—were parked at critical points, each crewed by just one operator to keep them nimble. Pom perched in the driver’s seat of one rover, eyes scanning the gloom. Luo Zuri prepped the second rover, running last-minute diagnostics on the turret mount. Yao Guowei took the Hauler, seemingly relaxed but coiled with tension, ready to power up and maneuver if needed. They all knew that, once the fighting started, everything could change in an instant. If it came to a massive evacuation, they needed each vehicle in working order to carry the entire crew back to base or away from the fight.

Beneath the floodlights, the colonists rushed to put the finishing touches on the barricades. Pell and his two colleage were suited up in CorpSec wargear and double-checked remote triggers for incendiary lines, while Otto hefted a cargo container full of spare ammunition to a safer spot. Sigrid circled around, re-verifying the drone connections, while ARI’s calm dispatch stated, “The main swarm is now an estimated twenty minutes away. Secondary swarm will arrive in thirty five. Recommend full readiness, colonel.”

Maximilian shot Yao Guowei a firm nod. “This is it. We hold here, or we lose all our resources and risk letting the beetles roam free. Is everyone in position?”

Guowei glanced at the flickering map. “Yes, sir. They know what to do when the swarm hits.” Then he keyed the comm for the entire outpost. “Heads up, everyone. Twenty minutes until contact. We’re about to earn our keep.”

With that, the quiet tension settled in. Only the muffled hum of the vehicles and the distant scratch of shifting desert winds broke the silence. Every heartbeat felt like a drum heralding the battle to come, but for now, they waited—armed, armored, and hopeful that their layered defenses would be enough to endure the storm.

A hush descended across the outpost, broken only by the muted shuffle of boots on sand and the steady hum of the charged capacitors that were standing by to power ARI's laser turrets. Darkness clung to the desert, swallowing up everything beyond the glare of the rest stop’s floodlights. Somewhere out there, a swarm of alien creatures advanced under the moonless sky. Everyone waited, some in fear, some in defiance.

In a dimly lit corner near the barricades, Maximilian stood in tense silence, double-checking the seals on his reinforced chest plate. He had swapped out his usual gear for something heavier—a hard composite armor layered atop the standard environment protection suit. The visor of his helmet loomed in the half-light, reflecting the faint glow of readouts and scanning devices. A few steps away, Pell emerged from the storage depot armory wearing an armored powersuit that glinted with integrated servos. His figure was bulkier than usual, the mechanized limbs lending him the capacity to hoist heavier weaponry.

“Not every day you see one of those suits,” Maximilian remarked in a dry tone, eyes flicking over Pell’s gear. "It's a shame we only have three."

Pell tested the flex of a plated arm, servos whirring. “Not exactly MilOps spec,” he said with a shrug. “But it’ll do the job tonight.” His visor flickered with internal diagnostics. Pell secured a heavy fragmentation rocket launcher across his back, and a cluster of incendiary charges at his waist. “I’ll set up near the second line of barricades. The moment they’re in range, we give ‘em hell.”

Maximilian placed a hand on Pell’s shoulder plate. “Stay alive. That’s an order.”

The soldier in the powersuit grinned behind his visor. “Heard you loud and clear, sir.”

Meanwhile, at the northern barricade, Otto and Sigrid crouched behind a waist-high metal plate, each wearing a sleek helmet with integrated night-vision linked to ARI’s sensor feed. Their visors cycled through false-color imagery, painting the world in eerie greens and blues. The glow from the outpost lights tapered off just meters away, yielding to star-drenched darkness.

Sigrid tapped the side of her helmet. “Sensor overlay’s live… ARI’s feed is patchy with all the interference, but I’m seeing movement. Faint signatures just beyond the dune crest.”

Otto swallowed hard, gripping his rifle. “That’s them, all right. We’ll see the swarm any minute now.”

A faint hiss crackled in their earpieces as ARI’s voice came through. “Multiple lifeforms converging on your coordinates. Estimated time to engagement: four minutes.”

Otto exhaled, heart pounding. “There are so many...”

Together, they watched the shapes coalesce in the distance—a writhing, shifting mass. Under the night vision, countless insectoid silhouettes shimmered, forming a dark wave that rippled across the sand.

On the southern flank, near the central cluster of turrets, Maximilian and Pell exchanged signals. Yao Guowei stood at their side, scanning the feed from overhead drones on a portable holo-display. The comm channels crackled with hushed voices: ∗∗Allteams,standby...∗∗ ∗∗Allteams,standby.∗∗

“They’re in range,” Guowei murmured. He tapped a command icon on his wrist device, and a row of automated turrets swiveled toward the distant dark. “Maximilian, call it.”

Maximilian raised a hand. “Fire at will!”

A roar tore through the stillness as a volley of incendiary rockets streaked into the sky. Pell and two other powered-suit CorpSec troopers, Hu and Kucugur, launched their first volley of fragmentation rockets, their exoskeleton-enhanced arms absorbing the recoil with ease. The missiles arced overhead and slammed into the swarm with thunderous detonations. Shockwaves rippled across the sand, and flaming plumes illuminated the night. The front line of beetles disintegrated in an orange burst of shrapnel and superheated air.

An unearthly screech rose from the darkness. The swarm lurched but continued forward, hundreds of glimmering exoskeletons snapping and hissing.

From the vantage behind the first barricade, Sigrid triggered a remote console. The carefully laid lines of incendiary charges lit the desert in flickers of orange and yellow. A row of beetles at the flank howled and recoiled, some collapsing as the flames consumed them. Stunned survivors lurched away from the patches flames, seeking another path.

Otto peered down his weapon’s scope, sending precise bursts into any of the mid-sized spitter beetles that stood out. They popped and split open under the fire, greenish gore speckling the sand. “They just keep coming,” he breathed, adrenaline singing in his veins.

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From amids the second wave of creatures massive chargers emerged. Barreled in the direction of the barricades, they clanged on metal as they attempted to smash through. Turrets spat streams of heavy fire, but each charger’s thick carapace endured multiple hits before it crumpled. Some bulled forward regardless, forcing defenders to pull back lest they be overrun.

"Come, Otto," Sigrid said, pulling Otto by the arm. "Time to retreat and blow this site," she shouted, as they hastely retreated up hill to the second firing position.

Moments later, two chargers broke through, and dozens of beetles poured into the lower emplacement. Sigrid tapped her command, and the place lit up, taking the beetles with it.

In the distance, the silver behemoth—a hulking apex creature—made its presence known with a low, resonant roar. Even from afar, the monstrous silhouette towered above the swarm, its reflective carapace shattering bullets with sparks of deflected metal.

Near the perimeter, the vehicles sprang into action under the dim moonlight. Pom manned one rover, engine revving as he sped out from a side passage, turret blasting out short bursts of incendiary rounds. He weaved between rocks, forcing a cluster of spitters to pivot their acid-lobbing heads. Meanwhile, Luo Zuri’s rover appeared in a parallel flank, peppering the insect horde with more rocket salvos from its mounted launcher. A half-dozen spitters collapsed in writhing agony, acid spewing harmlessly onto the desert floor.

But the swarm pressed in. Dangerously agile long-limbed insectoids swooped from the gloom—small, fast variants not yet catalogued in detail—and Pom cursed under his breath. “ARI, we got a new type of fast-moving creature out here. I'm retreating.” He strafed the rover, flinging them off course with the turret’s muzzle flash before speeding back behind the line. They couldn’t risk getting trapped.

On the second rover, Luo Zuri twisted the controls to avoid a quartet of chargers that barreled dangerously close. “That’s enough for me,” she muttered, accelerating away. The vehicles retreated, now relying on turret cover to keep the cluster from following too closely.

Back at the core of the defensive encampment, a series of automated turrets chattered non-stop, muzzle flashes casting staccato shadows. ARI's heavy drones swooped overhead, each focusing on pockets of spitters that defied direct ground engagement. Razor-sharp beams of laser fire cut through the night, a brief strobe showcasing an ongoing slaughter.

Kucugur and Hu, powered-suited, hefted rocket launchers once more for a fresh volley. The fragmentation shells exploded into packs of beetles, showering the swarm with searing shards. A line of scuttling, acid-spitting beetles collapsed into each other, dissolving in a putrid mix of their own corrosive fluids.

“Keep it up!” Maximilian barked, stepping out from cover for a moment to fire his grenade launcher into the densest pocket of nearby movement. Flames bloomed in an instant, shrieks and hisses echoing as the shockwave rolled back the creatures.

Mei scanned the area on her wrist holo-map, noticing clusters moving around the east side. “They’re splitting again! Incendiary line three, trigger it now!”

A bright chain of explosions lit the desert as more pre-laid charges popped off, halting the flankers in a scorching inferno. The night vibrated with the roar of blasts and the keening cries of the alien horde.

Yet for each wave that buckled, more creatures skittered forward, as though guided by sheer hive-minded fury. Smoke and dust billowed, stinging eyes and clogging respirators, turning the defensive lines into a hellish tableau of flame and gunfire. And still, the massive silver behemoth loomed in the background, slowly advancing. Its reflective plating glinted with each flash of ordnance.

Mei’s heart pounded as she, Casimir, Sigrid, and Otto sprinted back behind the tangle of rubble and metal that formed the defenders' third line. Only moments ago, both parties had been forced to abandon the second ring of barricades, setting off charges that engulfed the swarm in flame and shrapnel. Smoke hung in the air, drifting in thick plumes over the jagged remains of portable plating and half-collapsed cargo modules. But despite the explosions and turret fire, the onslaught of alien beetles had not abated. Under the flickering glare of burning wreckage, the belligents regrouped: a cacophony of hissing and skittering that grew louder with every heartbeat.

At the eastern flank, Hu and Kucugur—both clad in powersuits—continued their stubborn fight. Illuminated by the flash of rocket exhaust, their silhouettes heaved massive guns up and down, hammering another wave of advancing beetles. Meanwhile, to the west, Maximilian and Pell formed a second hurdle for the attackers, launching incendiaries at the clusters of acid-spitting creatures. Every time the smaller beetles tried to mass, the defenders delivered a punishing barrage, forcing them to scatter.

A thunderous roar shattered the night, and Sigrid froze in place, dread twisting in her stomach. Emerging from swirling dust and burning scraps of twisted metal, the silver behemoth charged forward: a monstrous silhouette of chitinous armor that gleamed whenever embers of light touched its reflective carapace. A multitude of limbs as thick as tree trunks pounded the ground, the creature’s weight alone sending tremors through the shattered plating. Two of ARI's drones dropped canisters of incendiaries onto it, but the white-hot flames did little beyond enraging it.

Otto cursed under his breath, reaching to prime another incendiary grenade. Mei drew a breath, hunkering low behind cover as Casimir steadied his rifle, firing but failing to find any weak spots.

The behemoth lunged forward, smashing through the remains of the first barrier. Sparks flew as its massive forelimbs battered aside twisted sheets of metal. Maximilian spotted the threat, barked commands into his comm, and fired a fresh grenade from his launcher. Pell followed with a rocket that found its mark—an explosion of flame enveloped the creature’s front. For a moment, the behemoth halted, shuddering under the blast.

“Reload!” Maximilian yelled, reaching for another round. Pell snapped the next rocket into the launcher, launching it with a resounding boom. The shockwave battered the behemoth’s flank, tearing away sections of scorched plating. Yet the monster roared in defiance, spurred on by a seeming fury. Acidic saliva dripped from its mandibles; a half-dozen smaller beetles swarmed around its legs, as though drawn to its violent momentum.

Hu and Kucugur, barreling down from one flank, storming forward to close ranks. With synchronized precision, they aimed heavy rockets at the behemoth. Rapid-fire explosions from turrets rattled the air, biting into the beast’s reflective armor. Tiny cracks spidered across the shining plates—but the behemoth lurched onward, smashing at the second barricade that Mei and Casimir had occupied. Panicked, Mei hurled an incendiary charge, igniting in front of it. A wall of flame erupted, forcing her and Casimir to scramble back.

“Clear the line!” Sigrid shouted, eyes darting among the swirling embers. Otto took the chance to fire the grenade he’d been priming. The projectile shrieked across the night, slamming into the behemoth’s sternum with a flash of fire and molten shrapnel.

A guttural howl tore from the beast’s maw as the shockwave drove it back several paces. Now it was reeling, armor cracked, fluids dripping from fissures in its carapace. Maximilian seized the moment, calling out: “Focus fire on it, now!” Pell, Hu, and Kucugur unleashed a final salvo—rockets arcing in from different angles, slamming into the behemoth’s exposed underside. In a brilliant conflagration of flame and twisted metal fragments, the monstrous shape collapsed, legs flailing before its body succumbed to the inferno.

For a heartbeat, the battlefield went still, lit only by the flickering fires and the swirling ash. Then Mei and Casimir exhaled in unison, hearts still pounding in their chests. The roar of lesser beetles rose once more, but their shining champion lay broken in the debris, smoke billowing from its ruined shell.

Another wave of fast-moving creatures swarmed out of the darkness, tearing through the flank with frightening speed. Amid the clamor of shouts and gunfire, Maximilian and Pell, still near the slain behemoth’s corpse, suddenly found themselves cut off from the rest of the defenders. Their path to the ship’s entrance and the final fallback line vanished under a tide of snapping mandibles and slashing limbs.

“Get back!” Maximilian barked, launching a final incendiary canister into the horde before spinning on his heel. Pell’s powersuit servos whined as he fired off a salvo from his rocket launcher, but the wave of creatures was already closing the gap. “We can’t reach the corridor,” Pell growled, checking their surroundings. “We’ll have to break south!”

They broke into a run across sand and twisted plating, leaving the battered line behind. Pell dropped his cumbersome backpack of spare rockets, cursing as he ditched his heavier weapons to keep pace. The swarm snapped at their heels—faster, meaner, as though empowered by the behemoth’s death. Just when it seemed they’d be overwhelmed, the sound of an approaching engine cut through the night. A rover skidded into view, headlights blazing. Pom leaned out the open window, the muzzle of the vehicle’s turret spitting rapid fire into the nearest cluster of beetles.

“Get in!” Pom hollered, slamming the rover into a sideways drift that scattered smaller creatures. Maximilian grabbed the door handle and heaved it open, helping Pell clamber inside. Forced to leave behind the rocket launcher entirely, Pell still managed to squeeze in, hooking his arm around the seat. The cabin was tight, the air thick with adrenaline, as Pom slammed on the accelerator.

They sped off into the night, but a dozen creatures clung to the rover’s flanks and rear bumper. Maximilian grabbed the turret controls, peppering the swarm. When several long-limbed insectoids latched onto the side panels, Pell whipped out a heavy sidearm and blasted them at point-blank range. Meanwhile, Pom twisted the wheel violently, scraping the side of the rover along a rock outcrop and crushing a handful of alien bodies beneath the tires.

Despite their efforts, more creatures erupted from dunes on all sides, funneling the rover into an ever-narrowing gauntlet. Pom’s eyes darted between the mass of thrashing insectoids and the faint outline of the Dolya’s wreckage looming ahead. “They’re boxing us in!” Maximilian shouted as the rover bucked and lurched over debris.

“We’re too far gone to turn back!” Pom hissed, heart hammering. “Hang on!” He gunned the engine and steered straight toward a massive rip in the ship’s fractured hull. The metal husk yawned like a broken mouth, offering uncertain refuge. With a howl of engine strain, Pom crashed the rover into the opening, tearing through twisted girders and old bulkheads. Screeching metal shards rained across the hood, and the rover lurched violently, nearly tossing them all from their seats.

For a breathless moment, the world was all sparks and howling metal. Then the vehicle punched through into some battered interior corridor of the ancient spacecraft, swiveling the turret around and firing out of the opening to deter the pursures from following. In a cloud of dust, crushed carapaces, and adrenaline, they were momentarily safe—but the night’s battle was far from over.