appeared to have some sort of screen, but everything was dark. Several buttons were visible, each with a strange symbol, but pressing them did nothing. Come on, Mikhail, figure this out! He’d had the same problem trying to close the first room they’d entered. Was it a power issue, or his own cluelessness? He had a suspicion it was a combination of both. He hit the buttons again. Nothing. Shaking his head and cursing, he looked around the panel for anything he was missing. It was all there in front of him—and it was totally dead. Angrily, he banged his fist against the panel. At some point, something needed to go right.
Suddenly, the overhead lights went full-blast; the hallways were completely illuminated. A vibration came to the entire area—Mikhail leapt back and raised his M3.
“What did you do?” asked Nikolai.
“Nothing, I did nothing!” There was no way a fist to the wall had done this—this was something else. The spacecraft was getting its power back.
Something crackled along the veins of ceiling lights. A rasping alien voice emerged, seemingly from the lights themselves, and repeated the same phrase over and over again, like some kind of warning. Ahead, the door panel lit up. A mechanical whir emerged from the door’s housing; it was opening. The whole of the strike team readied their weapons as Mikhail fell back into formation. The door slid into the wall.
Hostiles appeared.
Two reptiles and one gray alien were gathered along a series of wall panels on the other side of the door. By the time they saw Mikhail and his team, weapons were already being fired. A barrage of .45 APC rounds was slung toward the extraterrestrials, who were in no position to counter. Head and neck shots struck true even as the human soldiers stalked forward. Mikhail and his team crossed the door’s threshold as the aliens toppled backward.
Past the fallen aliens, the hallway opened into a spacious, elongated chamber that looked roughly twenty meters long. Metallic doors sealed the room at both ends, with the rearmost door following the ship’s downward slant. “Clear,” Hemingway said, taking position to cover it. Reed knelt alongside him, submachine gun poised and ready.
Before Mikhail could make any sort of declaration, the door at the opposite end of the chamber opened. Two more reptiles. Bursts from Mikhail and Nikolai felled them, but the quick kills ended there. Past the fresh corpses, a third reptile dove for the cover of a right-hand turn further up the hallway. Using the corner as cover, the alien fired a flurry of blue energy bolts the humans’ way. Though none of the bolts struck, it was enough to force Mikhail’s team to duck out of the elongated chamber and back into the hall they’d entered from.
We cannot lose ground—not here! If the aliens were allowed to force Mikhail’s team backward, this was going to be a quick mission. Sliding to the corner of the chamber, Mikhail leaned around and fired a suppressing shot at the reptile. Glancing behind, Mikhail looked at the door on the lower side of the chamber. It was still closed. “Hemingway, Reed, open that door! The rest of you, suppress!” The concept of suppression went against his own declaration of shoot only when you can hit , but in this instance, they had no choice. They had to move forward or they’d be flushed backward.
Diving to the center of the chamber from the hall, Nikolai raised his PPSh-41 and released a volley toward the hostile, forcing it back around the corner. Sparks joined alongside the Spetsnaz. The two of them, combined with Mikhail’s fire from around his own cover, were enough to momentarily hold the alien at bay.
“Let me get to where you are,” Nina said to Mikhail, still covered behind him. Her pistol raised, she eyed him sternly. “Trust me.”
She’s still a sniper. “Take position,” he said quickly, spinning away from the corner as she took his spot. Mikhail’s focus shifted to Hemingway and Reed. “How
Suddenly, the overhead lights went full-blast; the hallways were completely illuminated. A vibration came to the entire area—Mikhail leapt back and raised his M3.
“What did you do?” asked Nikolai.
“Nothing, I did nothing!” There was no way a fist to the wall had done this—this was something else. The spacecraft was getting its power back.
Something crackled along the veins of ceiling lights. A rasping alien voice emerged, seemingly from the lights themselves, and repeated the same phrase over and over again, like some kind of warning. Ahead, the door panel lit up. A mechanical whir emerged from the door’s housing; it was opening. The whole of the strike team readied their weapons as Mikhail fell back into formation. The door slid into the wall.
Hostiles appeared.
Two reptiles and one gray alien were gathered along a series of wall panels on the other side of the door. By the time they saw Mikhail and his team, weapons were already being fired. A barrage of .45 APC rounds was slung toward the extraterrestrials, who were in no position to counter. Head and neck shots struck true even as the human soldiers stalked forward. Mikhail and his team crossed the door’s threshold as the aliens toppled backward.
Past the fallen aliens, the hallway opened into a spacious, elongated chamber that looked roughly twenty meters long. Metallic doors sealed the room at both ends, with the rearmost door following the ship’s downward slant. “Clear,” Hemingway said, taking position to cover it. Reed knelt alongside him, submachine gun poised and ready.
Before Mikhail could make any sort of declaration, the door at the opposite end of the chamber opened. Two more reptiles. Bursts from Mikhail and Nikolai felled them, but the quick kills ended there. Past the fresh corpses, a third reptile dove for the cover of a right-hand turn further up the hallway. Using the corner as cover, the alien fired a flurry of blue energy bolts the humans’ way. Though none of the bolts struck, it was enough to force Mikhail’s team to duck out of the elongated chamber and back into the hall they’d entered from.
We cannot lose ground—not here! If the aliens were allowed to force Mikhail’s team backward, this was going to be a quick mission. Sliding to the corner of the chamber, Mikhail leaned around and fired a suppressing shot at the reptile. Glancing behind, Mikhail looked at the door on the lower side of the chamber. It was still closed. “Hemingway, Reed, open that door! The rest of you, suppress!” The concept of suppression went against his own declaration of shoot only when you can hit , but in this instance, they had no choice. They had to move forward or they’d be flushed backward.
Diving to the center of the chamber from the hall, Nikolai raised his PPSh-41 and released a volley toward the hostile, forcing it back around the corner. Sparks joined alongside the Spetsnaz. The two of them, combined with Mikhail’s fire from around his own cover, were enough to momentarily hold the alien at bay.
“Let me get to where you are,” Nina said to Mikhail, still covered behind him. Her pistol raised, she eyed him sternly. “Trust me.”
She’s still a sniper. “Take position,” he said quickly, spinning away from the corner as she took his spot. Mikhail’s focus shifted to Hemingway and Reed. “How
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