Now
Shira’s power armor seemed to drink in the darkness. They didn’t know how and they didn’t care. Like everything else when it came to utilizing it, Shira simply knew on an instinctive level. The power armor wasn’t a machine independent of them. It was them and they were it. There was no line between the two.
They moved quickly and silently through the corridors. The darkness was nothing to Shira with their enhanced vision and hearing. They also had another sense that defied scientific explanation. They could sense life close to them. More specifically the lifeblood that flowed through biological organisms. These invasive organisms were in a strange slumber that slowed their life signs to the edge of death. Their hearts beat so slowly that Shira had to concentrate to detect them.
There was only one cluster of invasive organisms on the fifth level. They clung to the ceiling, in the darkest corner of the administration leader’s office.
The door had been torn to shreds, so Shira was able to slip into the room, silent like a shadow. They crouched for a moment to count the invasive organisms’ numbers. Volkharion’s scouting drones were useful at pinpointing their locations. However, they weren’t able to provide an exact count.
Seven.
Shira crept closer and waited for the command.
The sphere of silence that Frequency projected made their group just as quiet as Shira despite the heavy tread of Dralig’s and Adjudicator’s armored boots.
They didn’t waste any time. They moved directly to the third level. There were three clusters of invasive organisms scattered throughout the level. They made their way to the chamber with the largest concentration.
Frequency brought them to a halt just outside the broken door with gesture.
Silent weapons only to start. Frequency subvocalized the message to the other two.
I lack the range with my short blade. Dralig replied immediately.
My tendrils will be adequate. Adjudicator moved to the open door, but stayed inside Frequency’s sphere.
Frequency gestured assent. When we receive Caretaker’s order. Adjudicator will charge into the chamber and attack with their tendrils. Draw the invasive organisms to you.
Adjudicator signaled acknowledgment.
Dralig will then attack with their blade. Meanwhile, I will deploy my emitters to cover the approach from the other two clusters in the event that they are drawn to our location. Frequency finished.
A slight frown creased Dralig’s smooth brow. I have concerns for Adjudicator, but I acknowledge your plan. I will attack immediately after Adjudicator draws the invasive organisms to them.
We wait for Caretaker’s signal. Frequency nodded.
Whoosh zoomed into the dark corridor. Their legs alternated pushing forward against the ground. The jets on the back of their legs and on their back fired pulses in conjunction with each slide. Their power armor’s assistance program slowed things down so their perceptions could keep up with the increasing speed.
Whoosh would’ve been blind in the darkness if it wasn’t for the schematic overlay projected in their face-plate. The facility’s interior was presented in glowing green wire frame. They had the option to purchase upgrades to their power armor’s visual suite, but the cost was prohibitive. For some reason such upgrades were more expensive than the upgrades to the systems and functions that were their power armor’s strengths. Namely, their speed, inertial dampeners, structural robustness and the vital program that allowed Whoosh to perceive and react at the speeds they were capable of skating across the ground.
The corridor was long and straight, their favorite kind.
Whoosh hit sixty miles an hour in less than a thirty meters. Volkharion’s feline drone and canine drone were trailing behind him, barely keeping pace.
Whoosh hit a hundred and sixty kilometers an hour. The two drones fell away. They had their own tasks to fulfill.
The speedy Threnosh could’ve gone much faster, but the assistance program chimed in their ear. An arrow that went from red at its tip to yellow at Whoosh’s position was projected in their face-plate.
The arrow marked the rapidly approaching wall at the end of the corridor. It told Whoosh that they needed to cut their speed. There was nothing more enjoyable than riding to the edge. At the last possible moment they hopped slightly off the ground. They turned their feet and body perpendicular to their direction of travel. The balls on the bottom of their armored boots automatically tightened. It was as if the power armor knew Whoosh’s intent.
They skidded and slowed just enough to avoid plowing right into the wall.
Once again Whoosh set off down the corridor with powerful slides. The only blemish to the maneuver was a slight scrape against the wall from the bladed extension along their left arm.
“The invasive organisms are taking note of your passing.” Volkharion's voice came in through the comms.
“Acknowledged,” Whoosh replied. The corners of their lips went up slightly.
The jets fired faster and stronger with each slide of their legs and pump of their arms.
They hit the inoperative lift shaft at high speed. They jumped and planted their wheeled-boots right on the vertical wall. The jets flared as Whoosh tucked their body into a ball. As they reached the second level they pushed off the wall. Their wheeled-boots briefly skimmed the ceiling. They twisted as they fell and landed on the floor without slowing down.
Their target was at the other end of the corridor.
“Invasive organisms from the first level are heading to your location.” Volkharion again.
Whoosh slowed down to a walk. They looked back at the empty lift. They couldn’t see that far in the darkness and the schematic overlay didn’t include moving elements, like the organisms.
“Tell me when they reach the lift shaft,” Whoosh whispered into the comms. They didn’t want to alert the invasive organisms on the second level. Yet.
Five seconds of leisurely rolling down the dark corridor.
“Now.”
“Acknowledged.”
Whoosh wasn’t able to see them, but they heard claws scrabbling against the metallic surfaces and leathery wings flapping. The organisms were eerily silent otherwise.
They put on a burst of speed at the same time that Caretaker’s voice came in through the team channel.
“Begin.”
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Shira eyes blazed red. Whether it was their own or the lenses of their mask was unclear. They extended claws from the fingertips of their gauntlets.
They had been eagerly awaiting Caretaker’s order. The hunger for blood was overwhelming. It had been muted by having a full store, but as they waited near the cluster of invasive organisms, as they watched and listened to the blood flowing through the bodies, it had grown, bubbled up to a point that they could taste it on their lips.
Shira ran their long tongue over the points of their sharp canine teeth.
They blurred into motion with a barely a whisper.
They tore into the cluster of slumbering invasive organisms. Their claws and the blades and sharp protrusions all over their power armor cut deeply into the organisms’ flesh.
The organisms snapped to life with surprisingly squeaky vocalizations. They were frightened. Somehow Shira knew this through the smells they were giving off.
They blindly struck out with tooth and claw.
Shira wasn’t surprised when they tore chunks into their power armor. They were strong for their size and their natural weapons were sharp. As evidenced by the ease with which they had cut through the soldiers the previous night.
They ignored the damage. They entered the battle with a full store of blood. Even though they were depleting it rapidly by operating close to maximum capability they were taking in fresh blood from the organisms.
The damage repaired itself as quickly as it was inflicted.
Shira thrust a clawed hand deep into an organism’s wiry chest. They felt an indescribable satisfaction as the blood was sucked into their power armor.
Another organism landed on Shira’s back and sunk its teeth into the back of their neck.
They dropped backward to the ground and pinned the organism with the protrusions on their back. More blood was taken. The organism gave a high-pitched screech as its body was desiccated in a matter of seconds.
Shira left a husk on the ground as they stood and searched for more prey to feed on.
A single organism was scrambling for the door. Shira blurred to cut it off.
The organism fell back and screeched a plaintive sounding cry. Was it calling others of its kind for help? Shira found that they liked that thought. More blood for them. It would expedite matters if the organisms on the fourth level below were drawn to them.
Shira stood and let the organism continue its desperate sounding cry as it flapped its leathery wings in retreat, deeper into the room. They took their focus away from it to the lift shaft at the other end of the corridor. They sensed something. Rapid flowing blood.
Organisms’ blood moved through their bodies quickly as they readied themselves for combat. Their hearts pumped powerfully within their wiry chests. The blood flooded into their muscles giving them added strength.
Shira heard their high-pitched screeches echoing down the corridor.
The organism before them answered back. Did it think that it was saved?
No. Shira turned their attention back to it. The organism was doomed.
Frequency dropped their sphere of silence at Caretaker’s command. Their mobile emitters floated on anti-gravity propulsion from their power armor. Half went left and half went right down the dark corridor to cover both approaches.
Adjudicator moved quickly. They rushed into the middle of the room with heavy steps, arms held up toward the cluster of invasive organisms clinging to the corner of the ceiling. The tendrils, made out of an unknown metal, flexible, yet nearly indestructible, lashed out from the holes beneath each gauntlet.
Each tendril wrapped itself around an invasive organism. The things woke with screeches that sounded like pure agony.
They dropped to the ground and writhed in obvious pain as Adjudicator drained the very essence that gave them life. The effect of their power armor’s ability depended entirely on the overall strength of the victim. Since these invasive organisms were robust several seconds under the life drain effect meant immense pain and an overwhelming feeling of fatigue were the Threnosh to halt it now.
Meanwhile the other organism descended on Adjudicator with fury. This allowed Adjudicator to display the second aspect of their power armor. As the organisms clawed and bit at Adjudicator’s thick armor plate. The damage slowly repaired automatically.
Adjudicator retracted the tendrils closer. They swept their arms in a circle. The writhing organisms were used as bludgeons on their fellows.
The Threnosh drained the last dregs of life from the organisms in their tendrils. They released desiccated husks, a pallid gray cast to their skin, which was pulled in tightly to their bones.
Even as other organisms attacked them, Adjudicator stood unmoved as they sent their tendrils lashing out for new victims.
Frequency noted the husks with interest. This was the first time that they had fought directly with Adjudicator in real battle. The corpses were superficially similar to the corpses that Shira left behind, yet upon closer inspection the differences were clear. The ones Shira left behind looked like deflated water packs, while these ones, that Adjudicator left, looked like they had been left in the dry sun for weeks.
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A pair of invasive organisms swooped down to land heavily on Adjudicator’s back. The impact combined with their surprisingly dense weight drove the Threnosh to their knees.
It was at this point that Dralig entered the fray.
They stabbed at one organism with the short blade in their lower right hand and grabbed the other with both of their upper hands. Their four-armed power armor, mirrored the Threnosh’s four biological arms. Their power armor’s arms where all equal in strength, unlike their biological ones, where the two lower ones were weak and thrashed about of their own accord.
Dralig’s power armor provided physical strength that was second only to Primal’s giant power armor. This strength proved sufficient to break the organism’s neck.
The second organism squirmed with their blade in its back. Dralig stabbed it to the floor, stepped on a winged arm to hold it in place while they withdrew the blade. In the next move they loped its head off with a single slash.
Another organism noticed Dralig. It dived down at them with a screech. They warded it off with their large rectangular shield. The organism clawed and snapped its many-toothed mouth in an attempt to reach their face.
The organism pulled back with flaps of its leathery wings.
Dralig jumped after it with the strength of their power armor’s artificial musculature that far outstripped the vast majority of Threnosh power armors. They slammed their shield into the organism.
The organism hit the ground hard. Dralig slammed the bottom edge of their shield into its throat, permanently silencing its high-pitched screeches.
Frequency winced at the sound. Their power armor’s auditory sensors were many times more sensitive than the others. The automatic safety measures were being tested by the multitude of sounds that were coming from the battles. The one in front of them and the others taking place several levels above and below.
There was something else, a sound underneath the rest. Ultrasonic, the other Threnosh weren’t able to pick it up, even with their auditory systems. It took Frequency a few seconds to zero in on the source. It was an invasive organism that was crouched in the far corner of the room away from the center, where Adjudicator drained life with their tendrils and even further away from where Dralig was busy stabbing and punching.
The organism’s mouth moved, yet no sound emerged. At least there was no sound for anyone else, but Frequency. They detected it immediately. A sudden thought had them focus solely on that ultrasonic sound. There were more, coming from above and below. They had to be calls and answers, back and forth communication from the different invasive organism clusters.
Frequency let out a very un-Threnosh curse. The sound was proliferating throughout the research facility. It was even coming from deeper down. The levels below ground.
“Emergency alert,” Frequency said into the comms.
“Acknowledged,” Caretaker said. “Continue.”
“I have detected an ultrasonic sound coming from the invasive organisms. Probability indicates that the communication is a call for aid. More importantly I have also detected the sound coming from the sublevels.”
“Understood.” Caretaker’s voice was accompanied by the sounds of projectile fire. “Defeat the invasive organisms on your level and link up with Shira on the fourth level. Create a defensible position and await further orders.”
“Acknowledged,” Frequency said.
Sounds from elsewhere on their level reached Frequency’s ears. Screeching, chittering, scrabbling claws and flapping wings. The rest of the invasive organisms on the third level were being drawn to the fight.
Frequency remotely controlled the floating emitters positioned at both ends of the corridor they were standing in. They spread them out to increase their zone of influence. They decided on a specific sound that would trigger uncontrollable muscle spasms in anything with muscles that entered.
If all went as planned the organisms would enter the sound field and be immediately stricken. They would then be able to dispatch them at their leisure.
Frequency looked forward to studying the effects of their new sound.
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As Whoosh zoomed done the corridor they flipped the two-foot long, curved blade on the back of their right gauntlet to face forward. They burst through the open doorway into some kind of open lab and raised their right arm high to place the blade at ceiling height. They locked their power armored arm in place and put on a burst of speed with the miniature jets on their back and legs.
Whoosh saw that the cluster of invasive organisms on the ceiling were already starting to stir. They put on even more speed and zipped right beneath. Their blade sliced through the mass of organisms. Blood splattered, but they were moving too fast and were left untouched. The open doorway leading into the next chamber beckoned to them, but they slowed down.
Whoosh unlocked their right arm and flipped the bloody blade back into its housing. They slowed and watched as the organisms burst into furious activity, seeking the one that hurt them so. It took a few seconds for their collective heads to swivel in Whoosh’s direction. Coincidentally it was at the exact same moment that the organisms from the first level finally caught up.
The entire mass screeched and gave case, some ran, some flew. Whoosh outpaced them all.
The Threnosh glided through the open doorway into another large lab chamber. They slalomed through the lab stations at an impossibly high speed. It would’ve been impossible without the power armor’s assistance program slowing the external inputs for their perceptions to keep up.
A warning alert flashed in Whoosh’s face-plate. The doorway at the other end wasn’t clear like the previous two. Not that there wasn’t an opening. It was just that when the organisms had torn their way through the previous night they had left parts of the door in place.
Whoosh looked back. The organisms were hot on their trail. Slowing down to pick their way past the jagged parts of the torn door was not going to be possible. So they did the opposite and went faster.
Whoosh aimed straight at the opening. They crouched their body down and tucked their head behind their arms like they were blocking punches. They locked their power armor into the posture to make themselves rigid. The jets on their back fired a continuous burn, which turned them into a battering ram that plowed right through.
The coast was clear down the corridor. Whoosh unlocked their power armor and fell back into their stride. Their power armor didn’t have enough energy to keep the jets constantly firing.
The organisms came rushing right behind. They were practically falling over each other to get their claws on Whoosh.
The Threnosh didn’t look back. Ever forward was the way for them. It was what they had chosen as a way of living their life ever since they had gotten lucky enough to become part of Honor’s project.
They had two more clusters of invasive organisms to tag on this level before they could circle back down to the first level and bring the entire mass to Caretaker’s waiting arms.
“Caretaker, Whoosh is nearing the lift,” Volkharion said.
“Pull your drones back,” Caretaker said as they readied their recoilless rifle. “Primal, incendiary arrow… wait for Whoosh to get clear.”
“Then they need to move faster then.”
Caretaker leveled a flat stare up at the giant power armor’s chest area.
“Do not worry… I will wait for them.”
“Are you certain that you can reach the lift?”
“Yes. It is a straight shot down the corridor. I have the distance from the facility schematic. The arrowhead will detonate at the designated location.”
“Close combat drones are clear,” Volkharion said as their three drones, canine, feline and the gremlin came bounding out of the open doorway. They all bore evidence of violence. Scratches and torn pieces off their metallic bodies. Blood stains on their claws. Bits of flesh stuck in the feline drone’s buzzsaw head and in the gremlin’s metal teeth.
Caretaker was glad that their helmet defaulted to filtering the outside air. They knew how unpleasant death smelled.
“Pull your scouting drones back as well and get in position,” Caretaker said. “Whoosh, once you hit the first level I want you to get down the corridor to our position with all possible speed,” they said into the comms.
“Acknowledged.”
Caretaker detected a hint of joy and excitement in Whoosh’s voice. Irregular for a Threnosh, but then again that was why they had all been selected for the project. Each one of their teammates had something that made them defective in the eyes of the greater Threnosh collective. The thought brought pride to Caretaker’s chest. They were once deemed as worthless, yet now they were on par with any elite. And they did it in only half a year. Soon enough they would be second only to the primes.
“Get in position,” Caretaker said.
Volkharion moved back several feet behind and to the left of Primal. They pulled their recoilless rifle from its sling and aimed it at gaping black hole that was the doorway into the depths of the facility. Their drones moved into a protective formation around them.
Caretaker took his place next to Volkharion, in between them and Primal.
It was just in time as the roar of miniature jets echoed from within the dark corridor.
Whoosh burst out of the opening like a train barreling out of a mountain tunnel. They skidded to one side and slid low across the ground right under Primal’s arrow as it zoomed into the corridor.
A split-second was followed by the air being sucked from the vehicle bay the expelled out again with a huge gout of flame like a dragon’s breath from the corridor that licked at their power armors.
Temperature warnings blared in their face-plates as the heat washed over them.
It seemed that the invasive organisms were made of sterner stuff as they began to pour out of the doorway. They were on unsteady legs and their skin was blackened, with small wounds leaking blood from where they were blistered and cracked, but they still came on.
“Open fire,” Caretaker said.
Primal started things off with a barrage from the micro missile battery on the upper back part of their power armor. The tiny missiles arced up and over leaving small, white smoke trails. The missiles exploded on their targets across the entire front line of the organisms.
Primal followed that up with sustained bursts from their shoulder-mounted minigun. They swept the barrels back and forth across the opening. They turned the organisms into wet mist as they emerged from the corridor.
Caretaker took careful careful aim and shot any that somehow made it past Primal’s barrage. It was a lot easier than they had anticipated, so much so that they didn’t even need to use their predictive algorithm to guide their shots.
Next to them Volkharion was doing much the same. Except they weren’t a particularly skilled marksman. They were simply adequate. As evidenced by the way they mechanically sent three projectile bursts into the opening.
Frequency’s voice suddenly came in on Caretaker’s comms.
Some kind of alert? Caretaker held fire and kept an eye on the doorway with its seemingly unending mass of invasive organisms, while they had Frequency continue.
The information Frequency delivered was disconcerting, but there was nothing they could do at the moment. They needed to clear the organisms in front of them first.
“Understood,” Caretaker said into the comms. They delivered the order to prepare defensive positions. If there were more organisms coming from the sublevels then all they could do was get ready.
“Volkharion, do you still have scouting drones on the first level?”
“A moment.” Volkharion ceased firing. “The fire destroyed two that I was not able to move far enough away.
“Not my fault,” Primal grunted even as they kept firing on the emerging organisms.
Volkharion ignored them. “I have one on the first level and two on the second level that I can redirect.”
“Move them to the sublevels. Frequency detected potential invasive organisms moving up through the lift shaft. I need confirmation.”
“Acknowledged.” Volkharion’s face wasn’t visible through their darkened face-plate, but from the way their fingers subtly moved Caretaker knew that they were directly controlling the drones. “I have visuals.”
“Just send it to me for now.”
Caretaker took in the images from the view of the insectile drones. The cameras cycled to thermal imaging. Caretaker locked that in. The dark blue and black of the cold metallic interior of the lift shaft was buried beneath the warm reds and yellows of many, many organisms as they climbed the walls.
“Pull your drones back, quickly,” Caretaker ordered. “I have confirmation of invasive organisms climbing the lift shaft from the sublevels.” They spoke into the team channel. “Maintain safe distance from the lift shaft.” They slapped a metal gauntlet on Primal’s backside. There was a loud clang. “I need another incendiary arrow into the lift shaft.”
“Understood, but there are too many organisms blocking the doorway,” Primal said.
“Clear the way with a standard arrow first, then immediately loose the incendiary arrow,” Caretaker said. “Is that within your capabilities?”
“Of course,” Primal scoffed. “Keep the organisms from breaking loose while I perform the task. Although I have killed most of them already.”
Caretaker and Volkharion fired into organisms appearing in the doorway. Primal’s words were true. The organisms were coming in noticeably lesser numbers.
Primal lined up the shot with the targeting-assist program installed in their power armor. They nocked the regular arrow and drew back on the massive metal bow. The target path was straight down the middle of the corridor where there was less chance of striking one of the organisms. They adjusted their aim until the reticle turned green. They loosed.
The eight-foot long javelin-sized arrow cut through the air with a loud bang. Its passing blew aside the organisms in its wake.
The next arrow followed it a second later.
For a second time the corridors of the facility’s first level were scorched with intense flame.
That was the end for the remaining organisms. Caretaker put the last two down with consecutive head shots.
Caretaker turned to Volkharion. “When the fire and heat dissipates I want those drones back in the lift shaft. Start scouting the sublevels.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Shira, report,” Caretaker said into the comms.
“On level four. Linked up with the others. Organisms destroyed. Request permission to proceed to sublevels.” There was a slight hiss to Shira’s voice.
It tended to happen when Shira got deep into battle with biological organisms. It was slightly troubling to Caretaker, but it hadn’t created any problems when it came to Shira’s performance, so they ignored it.
“Belay that. Await scouting from Volkharion. Maintain defensive posture for the time being.” Caretaker switched over to Frequency’s channel. “Report.”
“We cleared the third level and entered the fourth. Encountered minor resistance. Shira had killed the majority of the organisms on the level. Established defensive position as tasked.” Frequency’s voice sounded pained.
“Are you injured?”
“Negative. Discomfort from Primal’s arrows exploding in tight confines. My auditory dampeners were unable to completely mitigate the sound waves from the explosions.”
“Can you still detect the ultrasonic communications coming from the sublevels?”
“One moment, subleader.”
Caretaker counted the seconds as they waited for Frequency to return to the comms. They hit twenty-seven when Frequency’s voice returned.
“Nothing. I do not detect any ultrasonic sounds coming from anywhere in the facility.”
“Very well. Keep listening.”
“What is going on?” Primal lumbered over.
“Yes, I am eager to begin the next stage.” A gust of air shook their power armors as Whoosh suddenly appeared next to them.
Caretaker switched to the team channel. “Frequency no longer detects communications coming from the invasive organisms below. We will proceed as planned. Volkharion will scout the sublevels with their drones. Focusing on identifying clusters of invasive organisms as the primary. Locating any survivors will be secondary. We will build an accurate picture of what awaits us down there. Then we will proceed.”