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STORY
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Tony: "Oh, god."
Tony's desperate whisper carried the howl of Mystery-Matt being gutted down through the passage. The sound was rather watery.
The Frontiersmen began to congregate with Darkens and I, just in front of the dim vent. Among them were Smiling Joe, Mr. Samsa, Seph and Altezo. The rest were not in cold storage.
We stared down into the emergency vent, which was large enough at the entrance for one to stand in. The vent sloped up and rounded a corner just about 6 meters in. Each gun trained down into its throat, onto that very corner.
Tony (Text Message)
Mr. Samsa: "Copy that. Make sure they don't double back."
Samsa gestured for me to leave. I backed up behind a slab of hanging meat, but I didn't leave. Once again, my journalist ways overtook my common sense. I had to see what would happen.
Darkens: "Pseudo, how far are you from Cold Storage?"
Pseudo: "I'm almost there... there's too many behind me... I've been parasited... I... oh, fuck it!"
Gunfire echoed down through the passage. Pseudo was meters away from the vent corner.
Darkens: "Run, Pseudo! Run as fast as you fucking can!"
Pseudo's footsteps stumbled. His gunfire neared, but cut off just before it reached the corner. An echoing holler rang out through the tunnel; Part of it was human, part of it was not.
The body of Pseudo flew around the bend, sliding down the vent towards us. His arms dangled like an old puppet. He was dead.
The Frontiersmen aimed their guns on Pseudo for a moment, and then lifted back to the corner. He continued to slowly slide down, as the marines watched intently for the Kharaa to follow round.
It was Samsa that finally noticed Pseudo's body was sliding just a little too fast.
Mr. Samsa: "Shoot him!"
The limp Pseudo suddenly flew at us, pushed by a single Skulk hidden behind. The body knocked back the group, as the creature plowed through. His brethren followed.
Amazingly, Darkens and Mr. Samsa managed to down two skulks before the rest pushed through. One ran right through Darkens, tearing off his leg. He spun and landed hard on the ground.
Shouting. Skulks running up the walls. It was hard to tell what was going on. In the panic, I found myself knocked over by Samsa. I hit the floor. Out of fear, I remained there.
I remember turret heads spinning around like mad, hitting more meat than anything else. I saw two skulks crawling across the ceiling. A shower of gunfire trailed them as they scuttled across. One finally fell, catching its claw into one of the meat chains. The other scampered out of my view.
The gunfire stopped, as some of the marines reloaded. I sat in silence, to frightened to move. I could barely see anything through the dangling mutton. I wondered if they were all dead.
Seph: "How is everyone?"
Mr. Samsa: "Just peachy!"
A couple turrets fired out of my view. Another skulk fell still.
Seph appeared rather suddenly, and helped me to my feet. It is a blurry moment to remember, because just as suddenly, a barrage of spikes ravaged his head. They shot through his eyepiece, and all across his throat. I stood there as I watched him fall to his knees, and then to my feet.
"Move!" someone shouted. My brain decoded it soon enough to dodge the same fate. Spikes flew across where I stood, as I dived out through the mutton, tumbling in a panic until I found someone.
I ended up finding Mr. Samsa. He was with Joe. Beside them, on the ground, was Darkens. His leg was still missing, but he was alive. He looked rather pissed off.
"There's a lerk, up there, up there in the crates!"
Mr. Samsa: "We know."
Darkens: "He's a fucking genius! Hey Jacket, which limb am I missing?"
Mr. Samsa: "Relax, we'll kill it."
Samsa gestured something to Joe. He spread out to the side of him, eyes trained around the roofs of the stacked cargo boxes. Darkens sprawled on the ground. Not knowing what to do, I sat beside him, shaking, clinging to my shotgun like a blanket.
Darkens: "Ha! You retard. That's a nice boom-stick you got there."
His leg wasn't bleeding. The armor was taking care of the wound. Still, he seemed remarkably relaxed, while a Lerk crawled somewhere above our heads.
Darkens: "Commander, I would like to request a medpack."
C.C. - Ashura Demon: "Shut up! I'm busy!"
Resources were being spent somewhere, and lots of them. Geoff, Soda and Johnson were the only ones not with us in Cold Storage.
Darkens: "Stupid bitch commander. I'd give my right, err left leg, if he'd... what the hell!?"
As he spoke, an odd green mist was surrounding us. It started to sting my skin.
Darkens: "Shit! Spores!"
Mr. Samsa: "What the hell!?"
Darkens rolled out of the gas. I stumbled over to Mr. Samsa. In a moment, both Samsa and I ran over to Smiling Joe, as a second mist surrounded us.
Then, from somewhere above the frozen meat, the Lerk made a flying swoop towards us, showering spikes. The two of them emptied their machine guns trying to hit it. The Lerk disappeared as soon as it came, escaping back above the crates once again.
Mr. Samsa: "This is impossible. They only have one hive!"
More spore clouds. We did our best to dodge them, tumbling through the meat. Joe took pot shots at the Lerk whenever saw it's nose sticking out. I myself had no clue where it was. All I knew is that I could see nothing through the meat, and that my skin burned with every accidental brush against the poisoned gas.
Mr. Samsa: "God damnit!"
The oddest sound, I swear I heard. Like breathing. Like chuckling. Maybe it was just the creaking of the chains, composing with the echoing gunfire, and the quiet regeneration of the flying beast, muffled by the suspended meat.
The Lerk made another swoop. This time it was lower, just above our heads. Smiling Joe emptied his machine gun on it, screaming. When his ammo depleted, he threw down the lmg, drew his pistol and capped the Lerk's wing. It lost its balance, got caught in a chain and crashed at our feet.
It tried to fly at Samsa, but Joe jumped onto it, latching a hold to its leftside wing. Joe threw the horror hard into the crates, with a satisfying smack. As it tried to escape, Mr. Samsa pinned its other wing down with his foot. This hold wouldn't last for long.
Mr. Samsa: "Jacket, Boomstick! Now!!"
To be honest, I had no idea what he was saying. As the thing kicked and struggled for freedom, I caught that odd moment of recognition again. I knew it was alive, thinking, and struggling for its life... Fortunately, I was also caught with another notion: shoot the damn thing.
I shoved the muzzle of the shotgun into its gut and fired. A yellow gore splattered over everything within a meter.
No redemption. This was my first kill. My first downed Kharaa.
Joe dropped the carcass, wiping the filth from his visor.
Smiling Joe: "Like nuking a fly. Nice Boom, Jacket."
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Disclaimer
Monster is © Edan Koch. The Universe in which it takes place is based upon Natural-Selection. All characters and locations are fictional. Any association with actual persons or places is coincidental.
Natural-Selection and all artwork, screenshots, text and code associated with it are © Charles G. Cleveland, 2001.