CHAPTER 41 – MELTDOWN
DATE POINT: MAY 12th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, INSIDE ANOMALOUS STRUCTURE
LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST
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"What the hell are those things!?" Estefani shouted out over comms in a panicked tone.
"Don't matter, jump over here, I'll cover you! All that matters is we need to fall back to the Rhino! We'll make it back together, trust me." Hamilton replied, doing his best to sound confident.
"You're right, back to the Rhino, together. Okay... I got this... you got this girl... Alright... fuck it. Cover me!" Estefani replied as the sound of gunfire rang out through the cavernous chamber.
"Jesus fuck, how many rounds does it take to kill these things!?" Jenkins bemoaned.
"C'mon Preston, get your head in the game! Shoot the fleshy bits, not just their armor!" Ariana replied tersely.
"I was just trying to shoot center mass..."
Gotta link up with the others, just gotta link up with the others... Paul thought as he ran from the ever-growing mass of genetic freak show hybrids that hounded his every step.
Two of the scarab-headed half-giants leapt a mighty distance with their powerful legs as yet more of them chased after him, clacking their mandibles. Their beady black eyes stared at him in an unnerving manner, making the situation only worse. Paul pivoted and fired his rifle into the mismatched mass of humanoid-animal monstrosities that chased far too close behind him. The scarab-heads in front seemed to rush into the path of his rifle fire to protect those behind them. Most of Paul's rounds deflected and ricocheted off the hard chitin that covered their heads and chest save for the lucky one of a handful that managed to land perfectly and penetrate through their armored carapace. Taking Ariana's advice, Paul began to shoot the much smaller target where the chitin morphed into a naked humanoid lower stomach and groin. Trying to hit either the thickly muscled humanoid arms or legs was a waste of valuable ammo in his mind. Frustratingly, what few vulnerable bands of flesh they did have contained no vital organs, meaning they could tank quite a few rounds before falling.
The xenoforms the scarabs provided cover for behind them were Paul’s real targets, however, as they were his most immediate threat. The scarab beings were fanatical about protecting them with little regard for their own safety, effectively forming a chitin wall that frustrated Paul's attempts at thinning the herd.
There! A gap formed in the line, and Paul fired into it, felling one of the Uraeus-headed ones as they began to warm up the laser projector that had been grafted onto their shoulders in place of a head. The lead one of the trio’s chest exploded in gore as Paul moved onto the other exposed Uraei while he still had a clear shot. Two more squeezes of the trigger sent two more rounds through the wide chest of the enemy right as the golden laser projector had begun to glow in front of the mirrored metallic housing that focused the beam. His last round missed and gauged a large chunk out of the banded blue and gold metallic headdress grafted into the flesh of their torso which formed the base for the sun disk-like laser projector.
THUNK! Bolt locked back, empty mag, hit the release. Paul grimaced as he dropped the spent magazine and ripped at the Velcro securing his remaining stash of mags in his overslung tac vest. Just four mags left now… a hundred rounds... gonna need a lot more than that for this...
Paul barely avoided fumbling the mag in his haste to snap it into the mag well on his rifle. The empty mags could be recovered later, that was no problem. Dropping a fresh mag while running would be disastrous with so many of them still hot on his tail.
Keep your wits about you! Lose your focus.... lose your life.
I AM! Paul hissed back internally. Why don’t you be useful for a change!?! Spare me the philosophy, what I really need is tactical insight. Quickly now, something I can use! Paul thought as he again pivoted to fire into the crowd chasing him. Some of those hulking four headed dragonoids had begun to move towards the front of the crowd as well. Fucking fantastic.
I am unable to harvest… their emotional energy. It's as if they are devoid of… the gift... of higher reasoning… or the curse of emotional instability... Yet they seem intelligent… in their own manner… Perhaps more accurately put... they seem almost... instinct-driven.
Decentralized command structure you think? Or dumb biological AI programming acting as instincts and instructions?
In a more biological sense perhaps… still quite the apt description. We find the latter option more likely... though both remain possible.
Interesting, sure, but not really useful right now! Paul thought as he fired into the oncoming crowd before turning again to run.
Behind him, three of the quad-headed snake dragons gave chase, aggressively closing the gap. Something about their movements and gesturing appeared to Paul like they were directing the others through the rows of experimentation tanks. They seem smarter, stronger, more cautious and calculating, are they commanding the rest?
Unknown... though it certainly seems to be the case.
He turned into a T-Intersection just to find the way ahead was blocked by another group of slavering monstrosities coming around from the other side. Paul pulled a grenade out, yanked the pin, and tossed it behind himself as he ran in the only direction that seemed to be enemy-free. He emerged into a half moon enclosure of tubes filled with failed experimental hybrid abominations and a large central table with multiple workstations and consoles. No room between the tanks, no easy route out of his predicament. They had led him into a trap.
Right as this realization set in, his grenade went off, shredding the bodies of those most eager to close the ranks and entrap him. Still more followed behind them and filling in the gap amidst the bits of their fellows on the blood-slicked floor. The phalanx of scarabs formed up in two rows and began to advance, clacking their mandibles together in anticipation. Behind them, the dragon-headed ones roared and gestured as the line formed up. Several Uraeus-headed giants arrived, visible through the gaps in the front ranks by their glowing laser projectors.
His left shoulder began to burn, evoking a panicked response as Paul threw himself into a shoulder-in roll to get out of the line of effect of the myriad lasers pointed his way. Behind him, one of the consoles exploded into sparks directly behind where he had been standing moments before.
PHOTONIC LASER DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 90% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Fuck this! I’m getting us out of this deathtrap.
Finally… the intrepid hero discovers the value of wisdom!
Can it! What did I say about distractions!?!
That... was sarcasm.
If you aren't going to be helpful, just keep the commentary to yourself. Paul thought with a sharp spike of irritation.
Throwing his hand into the air behind his head, he lifted himself somewhat blindly into the air with a short burst of telekinetic fury while still facing the enemy. Once airborne, Paul dropped the TK field, grabbed the foregrip of his rifle, and tucked it tightly back into his shoulder. With a vicious smirk, he fired the under-slung grenade launcher right into the snarling face of the snake-dragon whom appeared to have been giving the orders. The lead xenoform was eviscerated in a most satisfying manner as it tanked the brunt of the explosion. Enough shrapnel still managed to find its way around to dismember several of the scarabs that surrounded it, as an added bonus.
Four down there, another five with the grenade earlier... I must have dropped a half dozen with the rifle before that, yet I've still barely put a dent their numbers. A dozen or so down, too goddamn many to go. Paul mused in frustration as his mind worked frantically to find a solution to his predicament. As he hit the apex of his flight curve, he launched a second grenade, scattering the rest of the enemy line. He then released the foregrip and formed another TK field to redirect his flight path to assess the state of the larger battlefield. He held on to his rifle firmly in his right hand held off to the side behind him while he held his left hand forward to help direct his flight.
Looks like Hamilton and Estefani linked up already... Good. They were covering each other in turns as they retreated towards the doorway and into covering fire range of their Rhino tank. Jenkins and Ariana held the back door and worked hard to suppress three different choke-point entryways to protect HT one from being flanked. Their defensive line hadn’t been charged en masse or breached yet, judging by the relatively small number of dead bodies, but large groups were assembling behind the larger, nigh indestructible experimentation tanks. A fragmentation shell exploded against the glass of one of them, showering the assembling mass of enemies with fire and shrapnel. It was a local massacre against the xenoforms, yet the glass had taken little more than some scratches and carbon scoring.
Just what were those things made of?! They had taken grenades, bullets, and now a tank round with hardly a scratch. Then again, to hold these things inside the tanks if one woke up early and angry, they would have to be crazy strong.
Paul dropped the TK field and coasted on momentum for a moment as he lined up a few more shots against targets hounding Hamilton and Estefani before he fired off his last grenade right into the densest, squishiest assembly of enemies he could find amongst the multitudes that gathered to block their path. This cleared the way long enough for Hamilton and Estefani to sprint the last of the way into the relative safety of HT one's firing radius.
"Thanks bro!" Hamilton called out as they took up a position with enough cover to safely lay down suppressing fire.
"I got you, just focus on that choke point, I'll perform overwatch duties from here. Call out for help if you need it, but I'm going to focus mostly on helping the others. They've got two choke points to cover and the bulk of the enemies massing for an attack." Paul replied.
"Wait, what?" Jenkins called out in alarm.
"Relax Ensign, help has arrived. We got this!" Paul boasted in a tone of voice he hoped was convincing. Internally, Paul wasn't feeling anywhere near so confident, he had seen the size of the tide about to break against their shores.
As Paul decelerated on final approach, the dam broke. Three groups rushed the assembling team’s position at the back of the room simultaneously from all three choke-points. The first group to charge was met with a well-timed fragmentation shell as they showed themselves fully. The visceral remnants of their ill-fated charge lay strewn about everywhere, making that way into a slippery deathtrap for those following in their wake as Jenkins and Ariana added to the death toll with precision rifle fire.
The second closest charge was met with a sweep of Hamilton’s breacher and was followed up with an under-slung rocket. Anything he missed; Estefani finished with efficient, accurate shots. Those two also had a single, tighter choke-point to cover, forcing their enemies to attack in smaller waves. Paul judged that they would be fine for now, especially since that breacher made a mockery of the enemy's armor. Plus, they had HT one’s support now too.
The far larger problem was the two openings through the maze of experimentation vats that faced Jenkins and Ariana’s position through which poured the bulk of enemies in a frantic bid to attack. While they picked off the weaker enemies, HT one worked to take down the snake-dragons as they showed themselves, as they seemed to be adapting their tactics to prevent larger groups from forming. Together, his team had so far managed to keep the enemy suppressed, but they were taking them down far too slowly.
Another shell explosion rocked the room right as Jenkins' rifle went silent. “I’m down to my last mag after this one! Ariana cover me! I’m gonna see if I can break away to grab us some more!”
The moment Jenkins left cover, the enemy rushed his position with all their pent up force and fury. Ariana struggled to shoot them all while HT one reloaded and lined up their next shot. An angry snake-dragon bowled its way through the ranks of its comrades and charged Ariana. Its claws tore chunks out of the deck as it ran on all four of its limbs as her rounds were deflected or absorbed by its body with seemingly little effect.
That’s the one.
Paul landed in the beast’s pathway with a controlled skid and brought up his rifle to fire. Round after round tore into its chest, yet it still continued the charge even as Paul neared the end of his magazine. Finally, it slowed and seized up before collapsing in a bloody heap far too close for Paul’s comfort. Unable to stop himself, he fired his last two rounds into its dying, form causing the bolt to lock back as he scrambled for another mag.
Those quadra dragon-headed ones take a whole mag to kill! Ugh, that name’s a mouthful… Quadra... dragons? Quadragons! There! Now to find a way to kill them faster…
He rushed to reload; at this rate they were going to be in trouble, fast. Especially if it took a whole magazine or a explosives to down the big guys. At this rate, they would run out of ammo long before they ran out of enemies. There were more than two dozen Quadragons left, with dozens each of the other variants remaining as well. Already they were forming up for additional waves.
Violent motion and a bright flash of light caught Paul's attention as Hamilton tossed aside a ruined and smoking breacher that had likely just taken a laser blast to the receiver.
"Rrrrahhhh! Not fucking cool! Ohhh... Y'all done fucked up now!" Wasting no time, Hamilton then drew his spear and charged the line.
Estefani was still doing a fine job of picking off the scarabs; enough that Hamilton still seemed likely able to handle himself alone for the moment. Hamilton fought smart and wary as he used the length of the spear to keep a healthy distance while still being able to strike as needed. For the moment, he seemed able keep them all boxed up, reacting to him, and packed in too tight to maneuver effectively as they fell one by one.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Thus, Paul’s attention turned back direction towards Jenkins and Ariana. They were taking cover for the moment behind an large iron workstation as two of the Uraeus headed humanoids traded off firing laser blasts at them. Five rounds from Paul’s rifle put a stop to the one getting ready to shoot next, which got the attention of the rest of the oncoming assault group they were covering for. Paul blew the chest out of the other one before the three of their rifles began to bark as they whittled the enemy charge down. Two Quadragons and two scarabs survived as Paul rand out of ammo and had to reload. A blinding flash shredded one of the scarabs as well as the Quadragon behind it into meat thanks to a well-placed Rhino fragmentation shell.
The second scarab was launched to the side and landed in a shattered heap, leaving one very angry, gore covered, now three headed dragon charging them. Jenkins yelped in surprise as his rifle seemed to stop working. “I’m jammed, cover me!”
Paul couldn’t see what was happening clearly, but with the way he was fumbling with the charging handle and overturning his rifle, Paul assumed he had stove-piped a round caught in the ejection chamber.
“Hurry up! I’m almost out of ammo!” Ariana shouted as the dragon closed on them. As Paul grabbed for another magazine, one of the dragon heads exploded, the other lower head remaining roared. The last remaining upper head began to glow in its throat before it belched flames all over their position, forcing Ariana to hide behind the tall metal workstation they were using for cover.
“They SHOOT FIRE!?!” Ariana shouted in indignant fury.
“Got it cleared, just reload, and wait for the fire to stop! I’ll cover you; we can fall back to the next position!”
Fuck that! Paul thought as he slapped the mag home and racked the charging handle.
Paul grabbed the dragon with a powerful TK field and threw it as hard as he could right into the path of another group well behind it that had begun their charge.
“I got you! Just keep them suppressed farther back!” Paul shouted over comms.
The only answer he got was the two of them opening fire on the bowled-over mass of enemies. As he swept his vision across the battlefield, he took a few shots at different opportunities as they arose. His attention returned to Hamilton, who seemed to have his battle in hand for the moment. A Quadragon head and an arm lay abandoned, lopped off by his fellow Guardian in smooth flowing motions as Hamilton swung his large, bladed spear around in powerful, efficient strikes. Estefani rapidly switched between targets as she worked desperately to kill anything else that threatened to flank her Guardian or dare attack him from afar.
They were handling this battle really well! Paul dared to comment in his head before he chided himself as being rather premature. Paul emptied the last of his magazine into a scarab that had broken free while Estefani reloaded. THUNK! The bolt locked back once more.
“Thanks Paul!” She said. Paul nodded back at her before he hit the mag release.
Just two mags left… At least there’s some mags left in the Rhino... Paul grimaced as he slapped a fresh mag home, debating whether he should play ammo fairy or keep fighting to prevent an enemy breakthrough. Hamilton seemed to be somewhat successful with melee weapons, there was no reason Paul could think of as to why it would be any different for him. He allowed his attention to wander as he watched Hamilton fight.
Hamilton drove his spear home, ignoring a gout of flame that a dying dragon head spouted about wildly. He pulled the bloody spear out and lopped off the head that still shot flames, putting a stop to the threat. He then reared back and threw his spear into another Quadragon’s chest as it entered the fray. He must have discharged its capacitor shock, as the dragon spasmed wildly while smoke rose from its wound. Hamilton held his hand out and withdrew his spear back into his hand as he was charged by another Quadragon.
The crack of rifle fire brought his attention back to the other side where an all out assault was underway. Paul grimaced and began shooting into the onrushing crowd of slavering monstrosities. Four of the scarab-beings formed the front line, and they were using the largely armored bodies to defend those behind them in the charge. Paul fired into the slim band of human-like skin under where the two body types came together. Gut shots generally weren’t immediately fatal, but enough of them without medical attention would still make for a painful way to die.
One after another the front line fell to their rifles until suddenly his whole vision flashed brightly and his hands began to burn. In that same moment, an explosion blew the rifle from his hands and knocked him backwards to the ground. Paul struggled for a moment as his hearing and vision reset and he shook off the disorientation.
KINETIC EXPLOSION DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 84% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Fuck! Paul thought.
What…. Just happened?
The rounds in the mag and the one in the chamber must have cooked off with that laser strike. My rifle is slagged now.
Paul felt his side begin to burn, which kicked him out of his miserable state and into action.
PHOTONIC LASER DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 76% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Paul dismissed the notification as he lifted his left hand and pulled himself into the sky as he drew his spear.
WEAPON CONNECTION ESTABLISHED; AREA WIRELESS ELECTRIC FIELD DETECTED; CAPACITOR SHOCK RECHARGE RATE IMPROVED 200%
No wonder why Hamilton was kicking so much ass over there. Time to show him how it’s done!
Don’t get cocky… there are two of us in here…
Like I could ever forget.... Paul grumbled.
Paul curved his flight sharply downwards and towards the line of Uraei that had been taking turns firing at him. He landed amongst them with savage glee, goring the closest one whose strange replacement for a head had just begun to glow. He twisted his spear and slung his arm to the side, tearing his first victim in half. In a smooth movement, he brought the spear around and into a thrust that gored the next closest one through the chest. Another Uraei head began to glow so Paul summoned his wrist shield to block as he withdrew his spear. His left arm was pushed back a bit against the force of focused photons from the powerful beam attack as he blocked as much of his body with his shield as he could. The last Uraei in range retreated behind a group of scarabs that charged at Paul. Amongst them was a hulking specimen of a Quadragon which roared at Paul, inciting a spike of primal fear that was hard to tamp down. Fighting one up close was a very different animal than shooting them through an optic.
The crack of rifle fire tore into the midst of the charging hybrids, which gave Paul a perfect opening to attack. He charged the right half of their formation, keeping the enemy between himself and the Uraei behind them. Paul then stabbed into the stomach of the right-most scarab, pushing it back into the next one behind it and staggering them both. From behind them, the Quadragon spat flames at Paul, which he deflected by raising his shield while he fell back a few paces.
The moment the flames stopped, Paul grabbed the two scarabs he had charged with a powerful TK field and threw them into the Quadragon as a distraction. The beast knocked one to the side with a bone crunching backhand before the dead one impacted unimpeded. Moments later, Paul arrived with his shield up and stabbed at the scaly belly of the dragon, only for his spear to be deflected into a mere flesh wound by the tough scaly hide due to the oblique angle of impact. As Paul moved to withdraw his spear and regain his balance, the trident tip was captured in the pincer jaws of the last surviving scarab-beast from the left side of the formation. This only made Paul’s predicament worse as he pulled back on the spear only to drag the scarab forwards along with it.
The Quadragon chose that moment to attack by latching onto his arm with its closest head while rearing another one up in a familiar motion to prepare a flame burst. He found himself awash in flames for a few seconds as the bite was stopped from penetrating into his arm by his shielding and armor. The radiant heat from the flames baked his skin and made his armor begin to feel uncomfortably hot, even behind the protection of his shield.
MULTIPLE ATTACKS DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 62% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Knowing he needed to act, Paul ordered his spear to release its capacitor discharge. While the relative non-conductivity of Chitin prevented a fatal blow, the shock was enough to free his spear, which was warped slightly from the bite one of the trident blades.
PRIMARY WEAPON DAMAGE DETECTED: SELF REPAIR PROTOCOL INITIATED
The sudden release of tension caused Paul to fall backwards, which also had the effect of preventing him from dodging a powerful claw swipe.
KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 53% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Paul was knocked from his feet, landing several meters away in a heap, losing his grip on his weapon in the process.
Fucking ow….
Paul scrambled to his feet, just to see the Quadragon charging him as the scarab to its side fell to someone’s rifle fire. The Quadragon itself took a few shots before a fresh assault from the other opening drew his helper's attention. A tank shell pulped the leaders of that charge, but the mass of enemies behind them simply carried on with the attack. Four Quadragons joined in the charge the moment the tank shell landed. Off to his right, Hamilton seemed to have his hands full fighting a pair of Quadragons at once. Estefani had already switched to her photonic bow, likely after running through her ammo.
“I’m out of ammo! Still got this bad boy though; frag out!” Jenkins yelled over the radio,
“There’s too many of them! Be ready to fly Preston, we’re falling back to the Rhino!” Ariana shouted.
Paul pulled his spear to his hand with a TK field and reactivated his wrist shield before he leapt out of the way of the scaly juggernaut’s charge. Out of the corner of his vision he saw two more Quadragons splitting off to join the fight. Paul turned and stabbed his spear into the side of the monster he had just dodged, penetrating deep into its hide. He then released his capacitor charge, causing it to spasm and collapse in a smoking heap, nearly tearing the spear from Paul’s hand in the process.
“Paul! Hamilton needs help!” Estefani yelled in a panicked voice.
"Kinda busy over here!" Paul replied looked towards the charging pair of Quadragons just to feel his whole left side burn, forcing him to split his attention to look for the attacking Uraei as he raised his shield up.
PHOTONIC LASER DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 46% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
As soon as the laser finished, he was struck by another, burning precious reaction time. Taking the risk to act in spite of the heat, Paul began to run while he raised his left arm towards the incoming enemies.
PHOTONIC LASER DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 38% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
Ignoring the heat and pain, Paul focused hard on creating the largest, deepest distortion field he could muster. This sent the charging Quadragon pair flying into the breakout crowd of enemies, bowling many of them over. He then lifted himself off the ground into a TK assisted jump, grabbed his spear in both hands, and landed while plunging it straight into the back of one of the now three Quadragons attacking Hamilton, killing it instantly. Paul struggled to yank the deeply embedded spear free but it stayed lodged firmly in place, so he abandoned it and drew his sword instead.
One turned to attack Paul, freeing a panting and bleeding Hamilton up to focus on the other as bright photonic arrows zipped by them. Paul blocked a punishing claw strike with his shield as one of the dragon heads reared back to blow flames and another two surged forward to bite at him. Paul pivoted and severed the head that had extended itself, which stopped the other head from breathing fire as it howled in pain. The draconic entity recovered quickly and forced Paul on the defensive with a series of claw strikes and snapping bites that were almost too fast to register, even with his enhanced thought processing speeds.
Somewhere behind him, another tank shell exploded as the sound of the mounted chain gun atop the Rhino tank could be heard.
“This thing is fucking awesome!” Jenkins yelled out over comms. “You get some, and you get some too! Come at me bitches, there's plenty for everyone!”
“Keep your head in the game Preston, we’re not out of the woods yet!” Ariana scolded him.
Paul finally managed to block and deflect a slower, more powerful strike, staggering his opponent and freeing up an opportunity to go on the offensive. A series of slashing strikes led to mere superficial wounds, much to Paul’s frustration. He would have to get close enough to stab, which was a dangerous prospect when the enemy was bigger, stronger, and had many more sharp objects to attack him with. The two combatants circled each other, looking for an opportunity. It came when Paul felt his back heat up like it was on fire, forcing him to spin to get his shield in position to block.
PHOTONIC LASER DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 26% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING
It was at that same moment that he was struck by a powerful blow that knocked him off his feet.
KINETIC STRIKE DEFLECTED; PHOTONIC SHIELD DEPLOYED… 9% INTEGRITY REMAINING… RECHARGING WARNING! SHIELD FAILURE IMMINENT; RETREAT FOR RECHARGE RECOMMENDED
“There’s still too many of them, we need to fall back into the corridor, or we risk losing the Rhino! We can use the doors as another choke point!” Paul heard Ariana say as he collected himself and rolled over. The three headed Quadragon he had been facing was on him again, slashing and attacking him, making it damn near impossible to do anything but roll across the ground to dodge.
“NOOOO!!! HAMILTON!!! Oh fuck, oh fuck… We need help over here!” Estefani shouted with panic in her voice.
“Kinda busy trying not to die myself!” Jenkins shouted.
"ALERT: CAPACITOR CHARGE FULL. ACTIVATING TEMPORAL COFFIN, RELEASING STATION GUARDIAN."
The room loudspeakers crackled to life above their heads. Paul took advantage of a short gap in his enemy’s attacks as it reared back, likely intending to shoot fire at him. Weaving a powerful TK field, he sent his opponent flying backwards into one of the experimentation pods with a loud crunch. Sore all over, Paul got back to his feet to survey the situation.
Hamilton was fighting a desperate battle with his sword in his left arm while his right arm hung limply to his side while oozing a trail of blood as they forced him backwards. Two wounded Quadragons attacked him and Estefani, who had drawn her own short sword to try and help. Paul spared a glance towards the door, which was a kill-box filled with far too many surviving enemies trying to push through a mountain of living and dead bodies as they attempted to breach the door.
Their line of retreat was now blocked, at least Jenkins, Ariana and HT one had fallen back safely it seemed. That meant he was trapped for the moment in the room with Hamilton, Estefani, and the remaining hybrid monsters. Paul gripped his sword tightly and rushed to assist them.
At the back of the room, the floating black distortion at the center of the massive glass chamber began to ripple and expand outwards until it filled most of the interior surface. A blinding flash filled the room, washed out only by the fast acting light filters in Paul’s helmet. When visibility returned a titanic null barrier filled the chamber for a few seconds as a shiver of primal fear ran down Paul’s spine. Every instinct honed by millennia of evolution screamed at Paul to run as the barrier dropped and his disbelieving eyes took in the impossible sight.
What…. The fuck… IS THAT THING!?! Paul thought in panic, nearly dropping his sword, as his brain stubbornly refused to comprehend the reality of what he was witnessing. Only the motion from his peripheral vision from Hamilton and Estefani’s desperate battle for survival snapped him out of it. Paul raised his sword and rushed into the fray as Hamilton was knocked to the ground from a vicious unshielded strike.
"I'm coming! Hang on!" Paul shouted as the ground began to shake with the heavy footfalls of the titanic being at the back of the room as it began to uncoil its many heads that released a deafening roar all as one.
Please don't die on me.