Chapter 2
Freemantle
Join Date: 2002-06-16 Member: 783Members
Join Date: 2002-06-16 Member: 783Members
<div class="IPBDescription">The first encounter...</div>Pyle knew he had just sent them all to death. They were outnumbered and ill-prepared. As he opened the door from the docking bay, the putrid smell of death rolled into the room. The marines ventured into the darkness, knowing that death was everywhere.
::Ship lighting is out:: Pyle stated coolly. ::Switch to personal lights::
Each marine flicked on their shoulder lights, scanning the darkness for anything alive. The echo of their footsteps sent a cold chill into their bones that made their teeth rattle.
::<b>Alien Pulse! Incoming, counting two- correction- three incoming</b>::
The fire team stopped silent in the hall. Save their deep breathing, the hall was silent as they scanned the corners and ceilings with their flashlights. Sobov brought his light up, catching a glimpse of flesh.
Too Late
Sobov fired at the Skulk as it bounded off the wall, gracefully dodging the LMG bullets. The skulk collided with Sobov, driving a scythe-like talon through Sobov’s chest. His screams were muffled as the Skulk gripped Sobov behind the cheeks with is massive jaw, and ripped his face off.
“<b>Noooo!</b>” Private Rhoads let his LMG loose against the predator. The skulk looked up, it’s arm still lodged in his last meal’s corpse. The rounds perforated it three times, the first two ripping apart muscle, the third drove itself into the Skulk’s skull, shattering it’s nervous system and liquefying it’s cerebrum.
There was a screeching of metal as another Skulk directly above Rhoads let loose the ceiling. Freefalling jaws agape. His teammates could do nothing without risking Rhoads life themselves. In one swift motion, it clamped its jaws around Rhoad’s head, knocked him to the floor and reared back, ripping Rhoad’s head off at the neck.
The Skulk had no time to swallow his meal. As he tried to vie for better position, he was blown to pieces by Humbaba’s shotgun blast. Adrenaline pumped through Humbaba’s veins. His warriors consciousness was emerging.
There was a <i>pattern</i>.
Leaping to the side, the skulk waiting for his attack screamed past him, leaving deep gouges in his back. He turned to face the alien, not expecting him to already be mid-leap at his chest.
“<b>####### <u>#######</b></u>!” Humbaba screamed as he stepped aside and brought the butt of his shotgun down on the skulks head. The creature hit the floor stunned. As it tried to regain stability, It was ripped apart by the concentrated fire of the TSA squad.
::<b>####!</b>::
Humbaba turned around, a leaping Skulk… three feet from the barrel of his shotgun.
Humbaba pulled the trigger. The shell ripped apart into thin steel slivers. In perfect timing, the series of electromagnetic coils bound to the stock forced the mini-sabots out of the barrel. As they penetrated the Skulk’s skin, the slivers frayed into star-like fragments.
In less than a second, the airborne alien was blown into unrecognizable pieces.
::<i>…keep moving… we have a lot of ground to cover…</i>::
With a hum and a cold blue glow, two shotguns materialized. A trickle of the nanites swarmed down Humbaba’s back, repairing the cell tissue and mending his armor.
Pyle watched his resource pool swell as the nanos began to simplify and convert the corpse’s of the fallen Skulks.
::Ship lighting is out:: Pyle stated coolly. ::Switch to personal lights::
Each marine flicked on their shoulder lights, scanning the darkness for anything alive. The echo of their footsteps sent a cold chill into their bones that made their teeth rattle.
::<b>Alien Pulse! Incoming, counting two- correction- three incoming</b>::
The fire team stopped silent in the hall. Save their deep breathing, the hall was silent as they scanned the corners and ceilings with their flashlights. Sobov brought his light up, catching a glimpse of flesh.
Too Late
Sobov fired at the Skulk as it bounded off the wall, gracefully dodging the LMG bullets. The skulk collided with Sobov, driving a scythe-like talon through Sobov’s chest. His screams were muffled as the Skulk gripped Sobov behind the cheeks with is massive jaw, and ripped his face off.
“<b>Noooo!</b>” Private Rhoads let his LMG loose against the predator. The skulk looked up, it’s arm still lodged in his last meal’s corpse. The rounds perforated it three times, the first two ripping apart muscle, the third drove itself into the Skulk’s skull, shattering it’s nervous system and liquefying it’s cerebrum.
There was a screeching of metal as another Skulk directly above Rhoads let loose the ceiling. Freefalling jaws agape. His teammates could do nothing without risking Rhoads life themselves. In one swift motion, it clamped its jaws around Rhoad’s head, knocked him to the floor and reared back, ripping Rhoad’s head off at the neck.
The Skulk had no time to swallow his meal. As he tried to vie for better position, he was blown to pieces by Humbaba’s shotgun blast. Adrenaline pumped through Humbaba’s veins. His warriors consciousness was emerging.
There was a <i>pattern</i>.
Leaping to the side, the skulk waiting for his attack screamed past him, leaving deep gouges in his back. He turned to face the alien, not expecting him to already be mid-leap at his chest.
“<b>####### <u>#######</b></u>!” Humbaba screamed as he stepped aside and brought the butt of his shotgun down on the skulks head. The creature hit the floor stunned. As it tried to regain stability, It was ripped apart by the concentrated fire of the TSA squad.
::<b>####!</b>::
Humbaba turned around, a leaping Skulk… three feet from the barrel of his shotgun.
Humbaba pulled the trigger. The shell ripped apart into thin steel slivers. In perfect timing, the series of electromagnetic coils bound to the stock forced the mini-sabots out of the barrel. As they penetrated the Skulk’s skin, the slivers frayed into star-like fragments.
In less than a second, the airborne alien was blown into unrecognizable pieces.
::<i>…keep moving… we have a lot of ground to cover…</i>::
With a hum and a cold blue glow, two shotguns materialized. A trickle of the nanites swarmed down Humbaba’s back, repairing the cell tissue and mending his armor.
Pyle watched his resource pool swell as the nanos began to simplify and convert the corpse’s of the fallen Skulks.
Comments
Anyway, it's pretty good, I think you need to focus on the setting a bit more than the actions. Maybe space out the attacks a little bit and take some time to describe the area the marines are going through. Plus, I think it'd be more believable -- I'd think that the aliens would either coordinate their attacks simultaneously, or have them spaced a lot farther apart than that. Keep on writing.
Rhoads:Part one... It was deleted like 3 times due to server changing...
***Darkness and light. That is everything and it is nothing. Ever since emerging, the light grew within it until it was aware and conscious. Overmind.***
The door slowly crept upward and light poured into the dusty room. A stark contrast to the light, the men stood as silhouettes in the doorway. Wasting no time, the marines rushed into the room, checking each corner and crevice, reporting “Clear” when necessary.
Showing efficiency that the TSA was only capable of, they pushed the bulk of a Command Center into the room. Lifting the glass cover and jamming the init button, the warm hum vibrated off the machine as it tapped into the ship and flooded it’s tubes with military nanotech.
They all stood around. None of them knew why they were here. None of them had actually received combat experience, just holo training mindless weapons instruction. Commander Pyle stepped toward the CC. His heels clicked on the cold metal floor in tight rhythm. Then it was interrupted by a sickening snap.
Lifting up his foot, Pyle smeared the green blood and remains of the organism off his boot, only to find more in his area.
“####, what is that?” Grendel asked.
“It’s a Level Zero, commonly know as Vec,” Pyle stated “they are the Hive’s backbone; they spread the infestation and are primarily used to transport genetic material to the Overmind from corpses of the slain. The hive is here.”
“Light ‘em up, boys!” private Sobov cried, letting his Light Machine-Gun loose into the swarm of bug like creatures.
Pyle’s hand caught the back of the private’s head. “Save your ammo, moron! There are much worse things out there than bugs!"
Dejected, Sobov followed the trail of bugs to a small maintenance pipe, where they feasted on the body of a woman. Sobov began to vomit vehemently all over the ground. Humbaba grabbed the talisman at his neck, praying feverishly under his breath. The men knew nothing, other than they did not want to die.
::We don’t have time for this ####! Lets clean them out before they get too much material!:: Pyle yelled as he ran to the CC. Jumping in and slamming the login key, he turned to give a thumbs-up before the capsule sealed shut.
With a hum and a hiss, the familiar cold glow of nanotech began to fall from the ceiling. “Mantle! Get the construction of that armory up ay-sap!” Officer Freemantle jumped up and ran over to the site where already the nanos had begun to construct the raw materials. He really had nothing to do, but a marine was necessary to authorize the construction of a building. As the armory completed, Pyle sent him many other orders through his visor.
The marines began to get nervous, they knew as soon as Pyle was content with the base, that many of them would be dispatched to find the Hivemind. The armory hissed to life, and Freemantle began to authorize turrets. As the turrets completed, the dug into the ground and sprouted to life, going through their own systems check. The tell-tale sound of target acquisition was heard. The turrets unleashed torrential volleys of lead, all in the direction of the corpse. The slugs ripped the Vec to shreds and perforated the dead woman’s body. Humbaba hit the deck even harder, clutching the necklace. Every marine’s heart skipped a beat as the turrets spun their barrels dry, and re-entered their scanning mode.
All except Pyle, who sighed.
::I have a new religion for you Humbaba::. With that, the armory sprang to life and shot a heavy string of blue nanotech into the ceiling. A firearm materialized in front of Humbaba’s prone figure. ::Surviving the test of time, the TSA shotgun employs the most advanced mini-sabot shotgun in the history of mankind with one-hundred percent lethality from six feet. Electromagnetic firing device and fragment control. Judging from your bio and training scores, it seems you’re a wizard with shotties soldier::
Humbaba smiled and picked up the weapon. Weighing it with one hand, he dropped his necklace to rest on his chest. A smile spread across his face as he threw his light machine-gun to the floor. It was recycled before it could hit bottom.