They got past the skimmers with relative ease, the two forces passing by each other with no way to impede the other and both understanding what the other was doing.
The first sign that they were in trouble was when they were face to face with the gaping maws of the grafted. Quick movement by Klaus moved them out of the path of a wide maw awaiting a fresh meal, but for each tooth they avoided, they were nearly met with a claw that posed just as much of a threat.
Whether due to the vessel or the pilot, sometimes they were unable to dodge fast enough, and received a clipped wing or a scratch to the hull in return. Each wound inflicted on the small vessel would send it spinning through space, then righting itself, just to find it under threat from another danger.
Each hit shook the crew as much as the vessel, resulting in pounding heads and trembling limbs from the shock of the force. They knew that if they were any slower, or if Klaus made the tiniest of mistakes, then they would be easily destroyed by the Grafted. Despite this, they did not allow their resolve to falter, each muttering prayers and reassurances to themselves.
Thankfully, once they were past the grafted, they were safely at their objective. The Kraltex, positioned behind the Blood vessels, were unable to fire upon the Squire safely without endangering the massive transports.
"I bet you're wondering how we can get onto the ship," Klaus said as he brought the ship level with one of the vessels. "Well, let me show you. Hold onto your heads, otherwise your brains might shake out of your skulls."
He brought the ship around so that the back of the ship faced the Blood vessel. Suddenly, he violently rammed the ship into the Blood vessel, rear first. Once it was firmly in place, the Squire began violently shaking as it slowly advanced further into the hull of the larger ship.
"This is why we have a Squire. Not many people know this, but the prototype for the ship was a mining ship," Klaus explained. "When the war broke out, the prototype was complete with the explicit purpose of acting as a breaching vessel. Now get ready. It won't be long before that door springs open, and you have to go."
"You?" Gus asked, shouting through to the cabin. "Why are you talking like you're not coming with us?"
"Because I'm not. Someone has to protect our exit. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," he said with a small chuckle. "There should be a few weapons on board, so I can hold the ship safely.
Now off you get," he said as the door swung open. "Give them hell."
With Ciara at the front, they entered into a wide, dimly lit room. As they entered, motion triggered lights sprang to light, bathing the room in a bright green hue.
It would be best to describe the room as a nest.
Alien materials clustered around the room, holding resting creatures in place. Other creatures slept out in the open, closely holding their weapons as though worried they would be attacked.
As the lights illuminated the room, the alien's slumber quickly ended. Waking up and immediately becoming alert to the threat, the creatures quickly took flight and began swarming the boarders in their hundreds.
"We just had to bore into a group of Vest'in, didn't we," Ciara muttered as she readied her weapon.
The humans opened fire as they exited the Squire. Their bullets ripped through the Vest'in, tearing their wings off and sending chunks of flesh flying all over the room. Scores of the aliens died, yet still their numbers didn't seem to reduce.
*Enemy killed: Vest'in Warrior.*
*Reward: [3] Legendary points.*
As they fought, Gus's mind became clouded by messages from the System.
*Enemy killed: Vest'in Warrior.*
*Reward: [3] Legendary points.*
*Enemy killed: Vest'in Warrior.*
*Reward: [3] Legendary points.*
*Enemy killed: Vest'in Warrior.*
*Reward: [3] Legendary points.*
For each bullet he fired with his Ravager, multiple Vest'in fell to the ground. Glancing around the room, he saw that the weapons of his comrades were having similar effects, but still it did little to the numbers of the Vest'in. Like a snake moving through long grass, he saw Brin weaving around the Vest'in, bringing death to any he touched with his blades.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Drawing their shockblades, they pressed onwards, slashing at the aliens while allowing their weapons to wildly fire. The mountain of bodies grew ever larger, yet still the Vest'in came in great numbers.
Tightly holding the standard aloft, Krista remained crouched within the Squire, determined not to let it fall.
As the room available to them dwindled further, they eventually had to stop swinging their blades, focusing only on killing the creatures with their ranged weapons.
Eventually, after minutes of the brutal, continuous sound of ear-shattering gunfire, the Vest'in pool of bodies ran dry. Gasping for air, they finally began to realise what they had got themselves into.
*Engagement details:*
*Enemies killed: Vest'in warrior [136]; Vest'in Commander [7].*
*Total rewards: [443] Legendary points.*
*Follower kills: [893].*
*Follower deaths: [0]*
*Follower rewards: [89] Alexander points.*
"Let's take a minute here," Gus gasped. "Make sure we're all okay."
"System."
*Stats.*
*Skills.*
*Points.*
*Store.*
*Milestones*
"Skills."
*Basic Skills*
*??*
*??*
*??*
*Alexander Skills*
*Jace Skills*
*Hou Yi Skills*
*??*
"Alexander."
"Let's put all my points into the Greatest Commander."
*Spend [90] Alexander points on 'The Greatest Commander. Confirm?*
"Confirm."
*The Greatest Commander has reached level [10]*
*Skill 'Childhood Education' has become available for purchase.*
"Childhood Education?" Gus asked aloud.
*In his early life, Alexander the Great was tutored by Leonidas of Epirus and Lysimachus of Acarnania in studies befitting a noble of the Kingdom of Macedon. In his teenage years, he was tutored by the Greek philosopher Aristotle at the town of Mieza, teaching morals, philosophy, and logic, among other things.*
*Skill 'Childhood Education' provides [10] + Leadership, and [??]*
"10 Leadership? That's not bad."
"Uhm... let me check my points next."
*Legendary Points [506]*
*??*
*??*
*??*
*Alexander Points [4]*
*Jace Points [0]*
*Hou Yi Points [0]*
*??*
"Okay, five hundred legendary points. Let's go to the boxes in the store."
*Boxes:*
*Common box [500]*
*Rare box [1000]*
*Hero box [5000]*
"Eh, why the hell not. I'll buy a common box."
*Purchasing [1] common box. Confirm?*
"Yes. Confirm."
Gus understood that buying boxes would likely be less efficient than buying items directly, or just simply levelling skills, but he simply could not resist the thrill of the gamble.
Once more, like on the command deck of the Orca, a small box, less ornately designed, popped into his hand.
Opening the box, he found a small tag like the one in the previous box.
He took out the tag and read its contents, discarding the box as he did so.
"Lumberjack's axe," Gus said, reading from the tag.
*Lumberjack's axe (common). Attacks: Cut; Bash.*
*Would you like to redeem the item?*
"Sure, why not."
The tag disappeared and was replaced by a small wood cutting axe that fit easily into the palm of Gus's hand. He strapped it to his hip on the opposite side of his shockblade, just in case he would need to use it in another melee like the one they just experienced.
"Okay, let's take a look at my stats to wrap things up here."
*Stats.*
*Level [31]*
*Strength [1]*
*Speed [1]*
*Stamina [1]*
*Leadership [16]*
*Defence and Durability [11]*
*Ranged [6]*
*Proficiency [1]*
*Followers [8]*
*UNLOCKED SKILLS*
*The Greatest Commander [10]*
*Champion of Humanity [10]*
*The Greatest Archer [5]*
'It seems a little odd that I didn't get anything for my ranged there, what with how many shots I fired.'
"Everyone ready?" Gus asked, his breathing now calmed considerably.
Satisfied by the nods and noises he received from the others, Gus began to make us way to the doorway on the far side of the room.
"Wait."
Turning his head, Gus saw that Ciara had called out to him, and was now approaching him.
"Let me take point on this one," she asked. "It's where I belong in the fight."
Gus considered her proposal for a moment. It did make sense for her to lead. After all, her weapons were too big to safely be used from behind other people. Also, the huge frame of her armour would make a good point for the rest of them to act from, giving her a role similar to that of a protector for the mission.
"Okay. Lead the way."
Ciara moved through the doorway gun first, her head swivelling back and forth urgently, desperate to be aware of the first sign of danger.
Just as in the room behind them, the corridor was dimly lit. It was also considerably wide, seemingly impractically so, if it wasn't for the fact that an entire invasion force needed to be able to traverse the halls with ease.
As they stepped out into the hall, the lights flickered on once again thanks to motion, casting the same green hue that illuminated the previous room over the corridor. They entered into the middle of the corridor, its vast length spreading far ahead of them on both sides.
"Which way should we go?" Ciara called back, her voice muffled by the mask that covered her forward facing head.
"Just pick a direction, they probably know we're here already after that racket," Connor answered.
"He's right," Gus confirmed. "We're here on an extermination mission. If we just keep going, we'll find them soon enough.
"Alright," Ciara said, taking a right outside the door.
They spread out through the corridor, the width allowing them to take a wide formation where as many of the angles and doorways were covered as possible.
They crept forwards slowly, taking care to not be attacked from surprise. As their position crawled deeper through the ship, they began to hear sounds seemingly emanating from the hull itself.
Bangs and crashes erupted periodically all around them. Light footsteps, like whispers on a wind, dashed above, below and next to them through the many corridors and hidden passageways of the vessel.
The sounds crept higher and higher, their frequency becoming closer together with each passing eruption, their proximity becoming ever closer and closer to the pathway of the group.
Suddenly, the sounds stopped. Shocked by the abrupt silence, ringing burst into Gus's ears, desperately plugging the absense of the clanging. Looking around, he saw that others seemed to be having similar reactions to the change.
Like the calm is swiftly swept away by the beginning of the storm, the silence was ended by the explosion of scores of war machines out of each little hole that was hidden through the corridor.
"Wha-"
"They're all around us!"
"It's the Re'bin!"