Pod after pod slammed into the Harvester ship as missiles belched from its broadside launchers. Connor was as healthier and more well rested than he had been since the start of the Sharlah invasion but he was still feeling out of breath by the end of the first corridor. The ship was darker than the Wraith but it still felt familiar. Long sections of hallway pockmarked with labeled doorways written in alien script.

The emergency lights were on in this section, likely due to the damage done by the breaching pods as they ripped through the unseen circuitry in the bulkheads. Connor flicked on his weapon mounted light as well as his helmet light but was waived off by Hamilton as he stacked against the door at the end of the first corridor.

“We can see good enough for now. They’ll know we’re coming if you use that. Wait for the flash grenade, then turn it on.” Hamilton said as gunfire and screams erupted from behind them.

Connor turned his head and caught a slap on the helmet from Hamilton. “Eyes forward, we cant help them.”

The grenade detonated, showering the room ahead with a blast of light before it went dark again. Hamilton set his light to strobe and took point as he swept to the right side and Connor followed suit to the left. Liz, Jimmy, and Ruo took up the rear.

A scream pierced the air and the squad comms at the same time drawing every light to the right side. The scene was like that of a horror movie. Flashing strobes illuminated two gray forms leaping from the stairway in the center of the room onto Hamilton as his rifle barked out flashes of its own.

Connor took two steps before his legs were ripped out from under him by a Sharlah with wild eyes and dilated pupils. Liz fired on semi automatic several times before swinging her rifle like a club and bludgeoning it’s exposed head.

Connor finished the monster with a blast to it’s soft gray chest and looked toward Hamilton, expecting the worst. Ruo was helping him to his feet and Jimmy was stomping on one of their heads with his heavy grav boots but Connor could see crimson red blood dripping down Hamilton's left arm from a deep bite wound.

“I’m fine, I think they’re sensitive to the bright light or that would have been a lot worse for me.” Hamilton said through the pain. “Lets go…Up the stairs Connor. Hide your light but if you get contact, blind the fuckers.”

Connor nodded his acknowledgement and took point up the stairs. The sounds of battle faded away as the group moved through the stairway to the next deck where Connor had watched the missiles launch. The weapons deck wasn't running on emergency power but it was taking damage from the pirate warships. Sharlah were running with tools in hand and welding patches over the hull breaches where their atmosphere was leaking into the void.

Connor considered his own battle armor with it's independent air system and wondered how long it would last if he was trapped on this ship. Could he breathe their air? He knew they could survive on Dottir without space suits so he probably could if the air wasn't sucked out into space. He glanced at Hamilton and the rips in his suit but he had already patched the damage with the sticky gel from his emergency kit.

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"We're going to have to engage, I don't see another way around." Hamilton whispered into their squad com.

Ruo looked nervous, she always did. "What if we wait, maybe they will move to another area with more damage."

"Negative. Connor how many flash grenades do you have?" Hamilton asked.

"I didn't use any, I have four. Liz has all of hers too."

"I have three." Jimmy said. "They were almost gone when we were grabbing our gear."

"Okay, both of you throw one to each side of the corridor and then we light them up. I don't even see any weapons but I can tell you, those teeth are sharp. Make your shots count. Now!"

Connor and Liz both chucked their grenades and then descended a few steps to wait for the bangs. When the grenades went off the whole squad entered the corridor with their weapons firing. Sparks flew off of every surface and meat came free from every alien until the entire hallway was filled with smoke and gore.

"Move move move!" Hamilton barked and pointed to the end of the hall.

Liz slipped in the blue blood and went sprawling to the deck, her weapon skidding away from her. The Sharlah to her right was still alive and working it's jaw as if to bite her but it was paralyzed from the neck down. Her eyes went wide but she didn't say anything, she simply grabbed her weapon and stood.

"Stay along the outer bulkhead, the missile batteries have to be here somewhere." Hamilton said but he stopped cold.

The sounds of howling echoed down the corridor from the way that they had come and Connor knew immediately what it was.

"It's some kind of alien hound that they use. Huge and crazy violent, disengage your grav boots, we have to run! Move now!" He yelled.

There was no battle damage nearby and the ship's artificial gravity was intact. They reached down and switched off the magnet function before darting forward in a near sprint while still scanning for threats. Connor's lungs started to ache and his thighs burned from the weight of his armor but the howling was turning to snarls and barks as the dogs drew near.

"Jimmy keep up!" He gasped but the man was falling behind with dread in his eyes.

"Oh god, Hamilton they're catching up!"

"Move your ass Jimmy!"

"I can't - I can't run anymore. Help me"

"You lazy son of a -"

Automatic rifle fire ripped through the air as the hound leapt onto Jimmy's back and he reflexively squeezed the trigger. Sparks and fragmented bullets rained down from the ceiling as Connor fell backward to avoid the incoming rounds. He threw one of his flash grenades back down the corridor but he could already see the dog biting and ripping on the area between Jimmy's shoulder plate and his elbow padding.

"AAAAHH HELP!" Jimmy screamed and flailed his arms with the dog still attached.

It was huge and even in the dim light Connor could see it's muscles rippling. Then he saw two, no, three more charging forward.

Connor screamed and let his shotgun rip into everything beyond Jimmy. The hounds took the hits and kept coming. It looked like they didn't even feel the injuries, they didn't miss a step.

"Leave him, Connor, MOVE!" Hamilton yelled and pumped his legs forward.

Ruo grabbed Connor and lifted him back to his feet as he screamed in protest and watched Jimmy die a horrific death. It wasn't the first that he'd seen but it was the most personal to him even though he'd only known the young man for a little over a month.

His body went into auto pilot and the screams seemed to become muffled, drowned out by his own sharp gasps of breath inside the helmet.

"The missile batteries are up ahead. We're almost there." Ruo said on a private channel to him. "Come on, I have you, lets go. It's okay. We'll lose everyone if we don't stop the missiles."

Connor looked into her eyes. There was a softness to her gaze, like a mother comforting her child. She wasn't that much older than him but she had the feeling of a mother somehow.