Outremer System, O-1/Bohemond, Base Alpha
RTTTT. RTTTTTTTT. RTTTT.
Caleb grimmaced as he fired another burst into the swarming mass of spiders, turning to run again as he tossed the empty magazine aside. "Keep going, keep going!" he yelled as he reloaded.
"We'll never make it," another soldier replied, before crying out in agony as he was pounced by a green spider and torn apart by the monster's pincers.
"Fuck," Caleb said, firing a burst into the distracted spider, before continuing his run. "Get to the landing pad, damn it," he added, turning to fire from the hip at the swarm.
RTTTT. RTTTTTTTT. RTTTT.
"Come on, the shuttle's landing," he said, pointing at the shuttle coming into view. "Forward, men, forward!"
The ISOC soldiers rallied, putting on an extra burst of speed, firing on the run to get back to the landing pad before they were overrun. The group got to where the shuttle had dropped them off, just before the spiders caught up to them.
"Hold them back," Captain Schembri said, putting his rifle to his shoulder, firing single shots into the monster's heads, their dead bodies causing the spiders behind them to stumble. "The shuttle's coming. Hold the line!"
The soldiers responded to their Captain's call, sending a storm of lead at the spiders, the dead visibly piling up in front of them.
The jets of the shuttle quickly became audible over the cacophany of gunfire and spider screeching, with some of the men cheering at the prospect of escaping the nightmare.
WOOOM, TSSSSSSS, BOOOM
The soldier's hope died as they suffered through the dual explosions of the alien laser ionizing the air mere meters above their heads and the shuttle's fuel tanks ripping the craft apart as the weapon did it's damage.
They weren't left to mourn their loss for long, as the spiders took advantage of the humans' distraction to swarm forward, overwhelming the thin white line. Caleb screamed in frustration, before being bowled over by a black monster.
Having pinned it's prey, the spider hissed in the human's face, spittle hitting his face before closing in for the kill.
BEEEP. BEEEEEEP. BEEEP.
"Fuck!" Caleb said, swiping his arm through the air as he sat up from his bed, before realizing that he wasn't back on the island that had killed a large group of his friends and associates.
BEEEP. BE-
"Shut up," he muttered, heart still racing as he reached over to turn off his alarm.
Fucking damn it all, he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. You're fine, Caleb. You're safe. So are your subordinates, thanks to a spider in fact. Well, most of the subordinates. He frowned at the reminder, but shook his head and just focused on his breathing to calm his heart.
Time to get going, despite not getting enough sleep, Caleb thought, sighing as he slipped out of bed and started for the bathroom.
Halfway through his wakeup routine, his pad beeped with a message, "Report to the General's office at the earliest convinence."
In other words, Caleb thought as he spit toothpaste out of his mouth, get here now. Though, it's not drop everything and run to the barricades urgent. Otherwise, the message would have been delivered by a klaxon.
[more writing here]
"Captain Schembri, reporting to the General's office."
[more writing here]
"Some bright spot decided to call the particular strain Tantalus' algae. Fitting myth at any rate."
[TL;DWY - Caleb talks to the General, get info dump on issues that have occured due to the events of chapter 1. The Statesman, Winston Churchill, is effectively destroyed, the surviving crew joined the base's personnel. An emergency 'black box' ship has been sent back to civilization with an report of what happend and a request for support. Food's running tight, due to the long term storage being kept on the starship. People are dealing with the posting turning from weird to the frontline of an alien war, with varying degrees of success. Focus of the scientific personnel is now either trying to talk to the Spindileggius that the team brought back or converting fungus into something edible. Military are being focused on taking back the ruins and the weapon before reinforcements show up in a month and a half or so. Caleb and the group are charged with performing recon on the island before the general assault. Caleb asks if diplomacy is an option, but the General shoots that down.]
RTTTT. RTTTTTTTT. RTTTT.
Caleb grimmaced as he fired another burst into the swarming mass of spiders, turning to run again as he tossed the empty magazine aside. "Keep going, keep going!" he yelled as he reloaded.
"We'll never make it," another soldier replied, before crying out in agony as he was pounced by a green spider and torn apart by the monster's pincers.
"Fuck," Caleb said, firing a burst into the distracted spider, before continuing his run. "Get to the landing pad, damn it," he added, turning to fire from the hip at the swarm.
RTTTT. RTTTTTTTT. RTTTT.
"Come on, the shuttle's landing," he said, pointing at the shuttle coming into view. "Forward, men, forward!"
The ISOC soldiers rallied, putting on an extra burst of speed, firing on the run to get back to the landing pad before they were overrun. The group got to where the shuttle had dropped them off, just before the spiders caught up to them.
"Hold them back," Captain Schembri said, putting his rifle to his shoulder, firing single shots into the monster's heads, their dead bodies causing the spiders behind them to stumble. "The shuttle's coming. Hold the line!"
The soldiers responded to their Captain's call, sending a storm of lead at the spiders, the dead visibly piling up in front of them.
The jets of the shuttle quickly became audible over the cacophany of gunfire and spider screeching, with some of the men cheering at the prospect of escaping the nightmare.
WOOOM, TSSSSSSS, BOOOM
The soldier's hope died as they suffered through the dual explosions of the alien laser ionizing the air mere meters above their heads and the shuttle's fuel tanks ripping the craft apart as the weapon did it's damage.
They weren't left to mourn their loss for long, as the spiders took advantage of the humans' distraction to swarm forward, overwhelming the thin white line. Caleb screamed in frustration, before being bowled over by a black monster.
Having pinned it's prey, the spider hissed in the human's face, spittle hitting his face before closing in for the kill.
BEEEP. BEEEEEEP. BEEEP.
"Fuck!" Caleb said, swiping his arm through the air as he sat up from his bed, before realizing that he wasn't back on the island that had killed a large group of his friends and associates.
BEEEP. BE-
"Shut up," he muttered, heart still racing as he reached over to turn off his alarm.
Fucking damn it all, he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. You're fine, Caleb. You're safe. So are your subordinates, thanks to a spider in fact. Well, most of the subordinates. He frowned at the reminder, but shook his head and just focused on his breathing to calm his heart.
Time to get going, despite not getting enough sleep, Caleb thought, sighing as he slipped out of bed and started for the bathroom.
Halfway through his wakeup routine, his pad beeped with a message, "Report to the General's office at the earliest convinence."
In other words, Caleb thought as he spit toothpaste out of his mouth, get here now. Though, it's not drop everything and run to the barricades urgent. Otherwise, the message would have been delivered by a klaxon.
[more writing here]
"Captain Schembri, reporting to the General's office."
[more writing here]
"Some bright spot decided to call the particular strain Tantalus' algae. Fitting myth at any rate."
[TL;DWY - Caleb talks to the General, get info dump on issues that have occured due to the events of chapter 1. The Statesman, Winston Churchill, is effectively destroyed, the surviving crew joined the base's personnel. An emergency 'black box' ship has been sent back to civilization with an report of what happend and a request for support. Food's running tight, due to the long term storage being kept on the starship. People are dealing with the posting turning from weird to the frontline of an alien war, with varying degrees of success. Focus of the scientific personnel is now either trying to talk to the Spindileggius that the team brought back or converting fungus into something edible. Military are being focused on taking back the ruins and the weapon before reinforcements show up in a month and a half or so. Caleb and the group are charged with performing recon on the island before the general assault. Caleb asks if diplomacy is an option, but the General shoots that down.]