recovering when the second beast charged for them. Greg barely tossed himself out of the way and the thing crashed into a tower of equipment, sending it sprawling everywhere.
“Do you hear that?” Campbell asked suddenly.
Recovering, Greg listened, and after a second, he did. It was the odd, almost wave-like sound of raw electricity.
“What is that?” he asked.
“ Who cares? Maybe we can use it,” Campbell replied.
They kept backing up, keeping out of reach of the recovering Berserkers, and found another towering wall of stacked crates. Quickly, the pair moved around it and put it between them and the rampaging Undead.
Greg saw what was making the electrical arcing sound. A whole section of the far wall had been exposed and the inner workings of what he realized must be a generator was visible. Raw electricity arced across the exposed guts of the machinery.
“ Now that is what I'm talking about!” Greg cried. “Lead the wounded one away, keep shooting him in the head. I'll deal with the other one.”
“ You got it,” Campbell replied.
They both rounded the corner. Campbell screamed at them and opened fire, focusing his attention on the beast that had already taken a lot of damage. It let out a furious roar and made for him. Greg caught the attention of the healthier one with a couple of shotgun blasts to its broad chest. The creature snarled and charged him, building up speed, closing the short distance between the two of them.
At the last second, Greg dove, tucked and rolled, letting his momentum carry him as far as possible. There was a tremendous crash, followed by a jerking, staccato roar of absolute pain and rage. He spun around and stared at the creature, now ensnared in the electrical field, blue-white arcs engulfing its body.
Suddenly, the whole thing overloaded and everything went pitch black for a second before the lights hesitantly flickered back to life as a back-up generator kicked in. The Berserker fell away from the generator, now little more than a huge, burnt-out, crispy mass of blackened flesh. Deeper in the lab, Greg could hear gunfire.
“Little help here!” Campbell shouted.
Greg hurried after him, coming around the stacked-cage wall, and saw the creature advancing slowly on Campbell, who was backed into a corner, reloading. Greg rushed over to it, put the shotgun to the back of its head and fired off a pair of slug shells. The top of the thing's skull blew away in a chunky spray of visceral gore.
The creature toppled over, nearly crushing Campbell in the process.
“ Thanks,” he muttered as he finished reloading. “Can we get the fuck out of this place now?”
“ Let's go regroup with the others and figure out our next move,” Greg replied.
Greg made sure to go back to Thompson's corpse and scavenge his extra ammo and the two copies of the data he had, then they left the labs, tracing the escape route Kyra and the others had taken. They found them securing a long corridor just outside the labs.
“What the hell happened in there?” Carter asked.
“ Lots of fun,” Greg replied. “Now we get to figure out what to do next.”
He took a moment to take in the environment. The mining headquarters were nearly as bad as the Anubis had been during his very last trip to the ship. The walls, floor, and ceiling were battered, burnt, blood-splattered, and dented. Several bodies occupied the floor, which gave Greg a slight relief, as it meant Erebus and his Augmented had yet to reach this area and begin their eerie 'harvest'. The lights were low and dim, they flickered occasionally.
Greg activated his radio. “Lynch, we've got copies of the data. Lots of nasty research files and plenty of dirt on Dark Ops for when we get the hell out of this place.”
“Good. Now you need to go get that device for the bomb. You remember where it is?” Lynch replied. Greg could hear gunfire in the background.
“ Yeah, I remember the way.”
“ Good. Get to it.”
Lynch cut the line. As
“Do you hear that?” Campbell asked suddenly.
Recovering, Greg listened, and after a second, he did. It was the odd, almost wave-like sound of raw electricity.
“What is that?” he asked.
“ Who cares? Maybe we can use it,” Campbell replied.
They kept backing up, keeping out of reach of the recovering Berserkers, and found another towering wall of stacked crates. Quickly, the pair moved around it and put it between them and the rampaging Undead.
Greg saw what was making the electrical arcing sound. A whole section of the far wall had been exposed and the inner workings of what he realized must be a generator was visible. Raw electricity arced across the exposed guts of the machinery.
“ Now that is what I'm talking about!” Greg cried. “Lead the wounded one away, keep shooting him in the head. I'll deal with the other one.”
“ You got it,” Campbell replied.
They both rounded the corner. Campbell screamed at them and opened fire, focusing his attention on the beast that had already taken a lot of damage. It let out a furious roar and made for him. Greg caught the attention of the healthier one with a couple of shotgun blasts to its broad chest. The creature snarled and charged him, building up speed, closing the short distance between the two of them.
At the last second, Greg dove, tucked and rolled, letting his momentum carry him as far as possible. There was a tremendous crash, followed by a jerking, staccato roar of absolute pain and rage. He spun around and stared at the creature, now ensnared in the electrical field, blue-white arcs engulfing its body.
Suddenly, the whole thing overloaded and everything went pitch black for a second before the lights hesitantly flickered back to life as a back-up generator kicked in. The Berserker fell away from the generator, now little more than a huge, burnt-out, crispy mass of blackened flesh. Deeper in the lab, Greg could hear gunfire.
“Little help here!” Campbell shouted.
Greg hurried after him, coming around the stacked-cage wall, and saw the creature advancing slowly on Campbell, who was backed into a corner, reloading. Greg rushed over to it, put the shotgun to the back of its head and fired off a pair of slug shells. The top of the thing's skull blew away in a chunky spray of visceral gore.
The creature toppled over, nearly crushing Campbell in the process.
“ Thanks,” he muttered as he finished reloading. “Can we get the fuck out of this place now?”
“ Let's go regroup with the others and figure out our next move,” Greg replied.
Greg made sure to go back to Thompson's corpse and scavenge his extra ammo and the two copies of the data he had, then they left the labs, tracing the escape route Kyra and the others had taken. They found them securing a long corridor just outside the labs.
“What the hell happened in there?” Carter asked.
“ Lots of fun,” Greg replied. “Now we get to figure out what to do next.”
He took a moment to take in the environment. The mining headquarters were nearly as bad as the Anubis had been during his very last trip to the ship. The walls, floor, and ceiling were battered, burnt, blood-splattered, and dented. Several bodies occupied the floor, which gave Greg a slight relief, as it meant Erebus and his Augmented had yet to reach this area and begin their eerie 'harvest'. The lights were low and dim, they flickered occasionally.
Greg activated his radio. “Lynch, we've got copies of the data. Lots of nasty research files and plenty of dirt on Dark Ops for when we get the hell out of this place.”
“Good. Now you need to go get that device for the bomb. You remember where it is?” Lynch replied. Greg could hear gunfire in the background.
“ Yeah, I remember the way.”
“ Good. Get to it.”
Lynch cut the line. As
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