Brothers
Skulkinator
Join Date: 2004-05-30 Member: 29016Members
Join Date: 2004-05-30 Member: 29016Members
<div class="IPBDescription">A tragedy</div> <b>PROLOGUE</b>
The screams of the dying and the wounded filled the marines' voice channel as they fought desperately against a pack of Kharaa. Corporal Lowe lobbed a hand grenade over an overturned table as few Skulks ran by. <i>This infection is worse than they guessed</i>, he thought.
An alien scream pierced the gunfire and shouting, and everything stopped for one second. Then, everything went to hell. A pair of Onos charged through the warship's drop bay entrance, and began to rip apart the structures. The turret fire hardly seemed to affect them, as they crushed those, too.
Lowe stepped back from the table, and ran up a metal staircase on the wall. He stopped at the top, on a rectangle of catwalks. He propped his HMG on the railing, and started to fire. The roar of the gun nearly obscured the screams.
One Onos fell, and the surviving marines cheered. They pushed forward, shooting at the other Onos. Before they could kill it, however, more aliens poured through the doorway.
Several skulks leapt through, as well as a few Fades and Gorges. It was too much for the marines, and they were slowly pushed back as they ran out of ammunition and cover. They killed several of the Kharaa as they slowly retreated, but were eventually torn apart. Lowe looked on as his fellow marines were killed, one by one, and reloaded his HMG. He opened fire in rage.
The bullets shredded a few Skulks and Gorges, but he was stopped short as a Fade suddenly appeared beside him. He looked at it, his eyes burning with fury, and jumped to the side, dropping his HMG and drawing his pistol.
The Fade roared and stepped forward, raising one deadly claw. Lowe rolled to the side as the claw came down on metal. He quickly got to his feet and emptied ten rounds into the Fade's chest, but they seemed only to sting it.
Lightning-quick, the Fade jabbed one claw through Lowe's lower torso. He winced, coughing as he felt the blood running. Any normal man would have lost consciousness then, before death, but Lowe was filled with desperate rage, and with the last of his fading consciousness, he grabbed the claw, and ran forward.
Both of them toppled over the catwalk, falling towards the remaining combatants, in a twisted embrace. The Kharaa simply walked over the two bodies, ignoring them, as they killed the rest of the marines.
For these marines, this was the end. For others who would arrive afterwards, it was only the beginning.
The screams of the dying and the wounded filled the marines' voice channel as they fought desperately against a pack of Kharaa. Corporal Lowe lobbed a hand grenade over an overturned table as few Skulks ran by. <i>This infection is worse than they guessed</i>, he thought.
An alien scream pierced the gunfire and shouting, and everything stopped for one second. Then, everything went to hell. A pair of Onos charged through the warship's drop bay entrance, and began to rip apart the structures. The turret fire hardly seemed to affect them, as they crushed those, too.
Lowe stepped back from the table, and ran up a metal staircase on the wall. He stopped at the top, on a rectangle of catwalks. He propped his HMG on the railing, and started to fire. The roar of the gun nearly obscured the screams.
One Onos fell, and the surviving marines cheered. They pushed forward, shooting at the other Onos. Before they could kill it, however, more aliens poured through the doorway.
Several skulks leapt through, as well as a few Fades and Gorges. It was too much for the marines, and they were slowly pushed back as they ran out of ammunition and cover. They killed several of the Kharaa as they slowly retreated, but were eventually torn apart. Lowe looked on as his fellow marines were killed, one by one, and reloaded his HMG. He opened fire in rage.
The bullets shredded a few Skulks and Gorges, but he was stopped short as a Fade suddenly appeared beside him. He looked at it, his eyes burning with fury, and jumped to the side, dropping his HMG and drawing his pistol.
The Fade roared and stepped forward, raising one deadly claw. Lowe rolled to the side as the claw came down on metal. He quickly got to his feet and emptied ten rounds into the Fade's chest, but they seemed only to sting it.
Lightning-quick, the Fade jabbed one claw through Lowe's lower torso. He winced, coughing as he felt the blood running. Any normal man would have lost consciousness then, before death, but Lowe was filled with desperate rage, and with the last of his fading consciousness, he grabbed the claw, and ran forward.
Both of them toppled over the catwalk, falling towards the remaining combatants, in a twisted embrace. The Kharaa simply walked over the two bodies, ignoring them, as they killed the rest of the marines.
For these marines, this was the end. For others who would arrive afterwards, it was only the beginning.
Comments
The TSA dropship flew silently through space, carrying a fifty-two man crew. Its destination was the fringe of the Ariadne Arm, where the TSA had previously lost contact with one of its warships.
All fifty-two members of the crew were combat-trained marines, or as they were more commonly known, Frontiersmen. Though every marine was trained to take command of the battlefield if needed, there was a general agreement that certain officers were the best commanders.
That officer was Sergeant James Langley, who was standing at the bridge of the dropship, reading over the mission briefing. He heard a noise behind him and spun in his chair by instinct.
"Woah, Sarge, take it easy!" said a young marine, who raised his hands in surprise at the intensity on the sergeant's face.
Langley's expression softened, and he chuckled. The young marine snapped off a salute, standing rigid.
Langley nodded at him, and said, "At ease. What is it, Charlie?"
The young marine, Charles Gray, slackened his posture, and shifted nervously. "Sorry to bother you, sir, but have you seen Dave around? I haven't seen him since breakfast."
Charlie was David Gray's younger brother, and had enlisted in the TSA three years after his brother, at the age of nineteen. This was his first mission, and he had happened to be assigned to the same dropship.
Unknown to Charlie was the fact that their parents had told David, when Charlie joined, to take care of his brother. And he did. Up to this mission, he had managed to keep his brother out of combat by volunteering himself.
As a result, Charles heard stories about his brother's combat missions, and he looked up to David for that. This mission had come up recently, and the objectives were not entirely sure. For that reason, the TSA sent volunteers only. When Charles heard his brother had signed up, he didn't pass up the opportunity.
"...Lockers about an hour ago," said Langley.
Charlie snapped out of his thoughts, and blinked. "Uh," he began, "Sorry, what was that?"
Langley sighed, and said, "I saw him in the weapons locker as I was passing by." Charlie nodded and thanked him, then snapped off another salute as he left.
David returned his LMG to his locker and closed the door. Gun maintenance was tedious, but necessary, and could save lives other than his own. Like Charlie's, he thought.
Approaching footsteps echoed down the hall, and he turned towards the door. There was the face of his brother, grinning.
"Ah, the Sarge was right. What're you doing in here?" Charlie asked, still smiling.
David returned a weak smile, and said, "Just taking care of my gun. We might need them soon."
Charlie shrugged. "Okay, well, I was just wondering where you went. I'm off to the mess hall." With that, he walked off, leaving David to his own thoughts.
Several hours later, the dropship's communications channel crackled, and the pilot spoke up.
"We're approaching our destination, men. All clear, so far."
A short pause. Then, Langley's voice crackled onto the channel. "All right, men. According to our mission orders, we are to board the ship, set up a base of operations, and make a sweep."
David knew in his heart it was coming, and hoped that he could protect his brother, unlike so many before that he could not. He looked back at the LMG, feeling apprehension. It had served him so many times before, but would it serve him now?
David grabbed his LMG, and noticed that several lockers had already been emptied. He grabbed his brother's, and walked towards the bay of the ship.
To ensure minimal risk of infestation, the Frontiersmen never boarded a ship by direct contact of the dropship. Instead, they create a potentiality stream into the desired location and anchor it, much like a distress beacon.
The dropship came to a stop about two-thousand meters away from the bay of the warship. The pilot's voice called, "The stream is ready. Line up in the bay."
Because of the unknown status of the battlefield, only seven marines would go in first. Langley went first, as commander, followed by four marines with whom David had been on several missions before: Warren Chaffins, Hugh Martine, Guy Molino and Alan Brooks. David walked into the bay with them.
He turned to see his brother pushing his way through the marines onboard to join him, and groaned inwardly. Why does he have to make this so hard for me? Charlie smiled as he stepped into the bay.
"Phasing you in three...two...one."
A flash of light surrounded them, and they disappeared into the warship. They arrived in the dropship bay, amidst the remains of a battle. David whistled appreciatively.
"Looks like the sh*t went down here," said Warren.
David nodded, and looked sideways at his brother. Charlie's face was slightly paler under his helmet, but he tried to show no expression. David sighed.
Suddenly, a command chair materialized in a flash of light. It landed in the corner of the enormous bay. Langley jumped in, and quickly created an infantry portal and an armory. The marines set to work.
After they were finished, Langley gave David a stack of mines, which he planted around the structures. He finished, and motioned to his brother. "You're with me," he said.
They knew their orders. They were to sweep through the ship, checking for remains of the infestation. Each marine had a map of the warship loaded into his helmet's computer. Warren and Hugh went to the main doors of the bay, while Guy and Alan took the pair of doors on the left side. David looked around the bay, seeing only those two exits.
"Okay, we're going to follow behind Warren and Hugh. I hope you remember your training," he said.
They departed towards the main doors, leaving the empty silence of the battlefield behind them. <i>I hope the crew of this ship took care of the aliens for us</i>, thought David. <i>I can handle it, but I can't let Charlie get hurt.</i>
Behind them, in the catwalks above, a pair of eyes shone in the darkness. There was an alien chuckle, and then the eyes faded into the shadows.
David and Charlie caught up with Hugh and Warren several meters through the main doors, in a wide corridor. They stopped for a moment, and looked for signs of infection.
"Looks clean to me," said Warren. David nodded, and they continued on, eventually coming to a T-fork.
Langley was watching their progress. "Okay, you four will have to split up. David, take Charlie and go right. Hugh and Warren, left."
They acknowledged their orders, and split up. Each pair moved through the corridors, noting no sign of infection. Suddenly, the lights flickered and dimmed, almost into complete darkness.
"What the HELL just happened?" asked Charlie, over the voice channel. David shushed him and Charlie could just barely see him raise a finger to his mouth in the darkness. He gulped, and nodded.
David typed a message, which appeared on the team's HUDs.
<i>David: It could be remains of the infection. The Kharaa might still be here.</i>
After a short pause, replies came.
<i>Warren: Maybe. Let's hope not.
Hugh: Right. It might just be damaged electronics, from that battle earlier.
Guy: What happened? Did your lights go out?
Alan: Yeah, but our lights are sti</i>
A strange noise filtered through their channel, and then they heard the unmistakable sound of Alan screaming. Gunfire poured through his still-open channel, and then silence.
David said, "What happened? Is Alan okay?"
There was no response for a second, then Langley said, "Yes, he's fine now. I gave him a couple medpacks." David looked back at his brother, and beckoned him.
Langley again. "Okay, men. Keep moving. We know some of the Kharaa are still here, so don't get caught by surprise. We need to get some resources."
Everyone acknowledged except Alan, who simply gave a weak "Okay". David and Charlie moved through their corridor, eventually coming to a bend, which they followed. They could see the steam from a resource node in the darkness.
Langley dropped a tower on the node, and David motioned for his brother to build while he covered him. Charlie moved behind the nano-ghost, and placed one hand on it. As it began constructing, he looked on the map of the warship.
Two figures were standing still. Himself and his brother. Two others were moving through a corridor to the left, approaching a pair of resource nodes on opposite sides of the hallway. Hugh and Warren. Down near the bottom-left corner, he saw two figures standing still, near a resource tower that had been finished. Guy and Alan.
Guy's voice suddenly entered the channel, with gunfire in the background. "Sarge, we've got heavy contact down here! It might be there hive!"
Charlie drew a sharp breath, but kept building as he watched the map. Guy's figure was moving back and forth in the hallway. Alan's was slowly moving backwards. After a few seconds, Alan's disappeared, and Charlie frowned.
With a hum, the resource tower came to life. David nodded at his brother, and they continued down the hallway. They came to another turn, and suddenly found that the lights were on in this section. They looked at each other, with an unspoken agreement to make no noise.
Guy's voice filled the channel again. "Alan is down! I need some backup here! I think this is thei - "
At that moment, a Skulk jumped upwards, and tore out Guy's throat. Langley swore on the channel. "Hugh and Warren, we've lost Guy, too. Get back to our base and set up some turrets, then bring the reinforcements with you. David and Charlie, keep moving. The cargo bay is straight ahead, and there are a couple of nodes there."
They acknowledged, and moved on, looking cautiously for any aliens that might be hanging on the ceilings and walls.
Hugh and Warren returned to the base, where a turret factory awaited them. They built it, then set up several turrets. A flash of light signaled the arrival of their reinforcements.
The first one nodded to Hugh. "Glad to help, Hugh."
He nodded back. "You too, Barry."
The second one stepped off of the infantry portal, and unholstered his pistol. "Still don't like those LMGs, Mark?" asked Warren. Mark smirked, and patted his pistol.
Langley said, "You four, take the left door. Keep pushing, I'll cover you with health and ammo."
They acknowledged, and headed out. At that moment, David and Charlie had just reached the entrance to the cargo bay. David held one hand out and back, signaling for Charlie to watch his back as he moved in. Silently, he walked into the large cargo bay. What he saw shocked him.
There, in the very center of the cargo bay, was an alien hive. The two resource nodes they wanted were by a small lift in the corner of the room. David could barely make out the form of a Gorge by one of them. Suddenly, an alien structure formed on top of one of the nodes, quivering as the Gorge "constructed" it.
David swore silently. "Sarge, the cargo bay is their hive! I don't know what the other four are heading into, but it's definitely not their hive."
He motioned for Charlie to come with him, and they crept behind a stack of crates. <i>So much for not getting caught by surprise</i>, he thought.
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EDIT: Fixed. And thanks, Sixsixone.
While David and Charlie crouched behind the stack of crates, the other four were making their way through the left entrance to the dropship bay. They came to the spot where Guy and Alan were killed, marked by both human and alien blood on the floor and walls.
Warren stepped forward and paused for a moment, then knelt down and removed Guy's helmet. Hugh did the same with Alan's. They closed their friends' eyes, and set their guns and helmets on their chests. The four continued down the corridor, their memories of their dead friends in mind.
After a while, they came to a bend. Mark edged along the wall until he came to the corner, then peeked around. Quickly, he spun back with a short breath, as a spike flew past the corner of the wall and hit the wall before him.
Langley was watching it. "How many, Mark?"
Mark shook his head. "I saw two offense chambers. I'm sure there's a Gorge behind them. Not good."
Offense chambers were easy pickings for any well-trained marine. However, this meant that the infection was still active. That meant fighting, which would inevitably result in casualties.
Barry said quietly, "Sarge, get ready to supply us with ammo and health. We're going to take those down."
All four turned the corner, and opened fire. Between the chambers, there was a small gap. Mark could see the Gorge through it, so he crouched and fired all ten rounds of his pistol into the Gorge, which fell over, dead. The other three continued firing into the chambers, then reloaded, and kept firing. Mark holstered his pistol and charged, drawing his knife.
Soon, the chambers collapsed into alien sludge, and the four took their supplies, then headed forward, through another long corridor. At the end, there was another bend, which led directly into a doorway. Mark placed his hand on the panel, and it opened.
"What the hell...?" he said.
The others crowded around to see what he was looking at. It was a room full of alien eggs. There was no hive in sight, but there were at least two dozen scattered in the room, which once must have been the mess hall of the warship.
"Sarge, what do we do? If we shoot, they might wake up."
A sudden noise drew Mark's attention, and he peered at one the eggs closest to him. It was pulsing, and making liquid noises. He backed up, and suddenly, the egg exploded outwards. The giant, hulking form of an Onos emerged, still covered in alien fluid. It shook its head a few times, spraying liquid, then snorted, and turned towards the group.
Mark said, "Damnit," just before the Onos gored him on its tusk. He dropped his pistol, which went off as it hit the ground, striking the Onos in the leg. It roared, and the remaining three marines exchanged glances. They could see, behind the Onos, that eggs were beginning to hatch.
Langley ordered them to do what they were all thinking. "Run for it!" They turned and ran, not even bothering to fire as they escaped. The Onos shook its head violently, spraying Mark's blood on the walls, until his body flew off of its tusk and crunched against the bloody wall. The Onos crouched slightly as it attempted to squeeze itself through the door. Suddenly, Barry had an idea.
He shouted, "Covering fire!" as he ran forward, directly at the Onos. Hugh and Warren exchanged glances again, and fired at the Onos, watching the bullets pepper it. The Onos turned its head, trying to avoid the gunfire. Barry took the opportunity, and slammed his hand on the door panel. With a sickening crunch, the door slammed halfway shut, jamming into the Onos's head. However, the alien carapace was too strong to be destroyed by that, and the Onos only roared louder.
Barry swore and turned to escape, but the Onos swung its head sideways at him, and he was slammed into the wall headfirst. There was a loud crack, and his limp body fell to the ground, next to Mark's.
Hugh and Warren turned and ran as fast as they could. "Sarge, there are at least twenty eggs in that one room alone! They're going to hatch soon, and I don't think we'll have much of a chance against them. We have to get out."
"Negative, Warren. I've looked over the warship's layout, and there is only one room besides this one that could support a hive. That's the cargo bay, where Dave and Charlie are right now. If they can knock it out, the Kharaa will die without their hive.
"Unfortunately, I can't send you men to help them out. If there's nobody at the base to protect our structures, then the Kharaa will wipe us out, and nobody will survive."
David and Charlie were stilled behind the stack of crates when they heard this exchange. They looked at each other, and knew it was up to them. David said quietly, "Okay, Sarge, but at the least, we're going to need a phase gate down the hall, so we can pick up some heavy weapons."
Langley acknowledged, and they heard the distant sound of the phase gate materializing away from the hive. He said quietly, "It all depends on you, boys. This is our only chance. We're getting desperate."
<i>Desperate indeed</i>, thought David, who looked over at his brother again, reminding himself that Charlie had no combat experience. <i>I hope he's up to this.</i>
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-Liam
helios@hydrogon.com
www.H3lios.tk
David said to his brother, "Stay here and watch the hive while I finish up that phase gate. Remember, only Skulks will spawn from it, so if any try to tail me, shoot them with your pistol only. It's not as noisy." Charlie nodded, as David silently left the cargo bay.
Meanwhile, Hugh and Warren had managed to escape the Onos and return to the base. The two reinforcements were already there, building the phase gate. Hugh and Warren worked on the turrets. Langley knew how bad a large alien attack could be.
A flash of light accompanied David's arrival. Without a word, Langley dropped a pair of grenade launchers. One for him, one for his brother. David nodded and took the grenade launchers with him to the phase gate.
Charlie peered over the top of one of the crates. A Skulk popped out of the hive, and immediately crawled up the wall and into a vent. <i>It must lead to that room with all the eggs</i>, he thought.
He looked on his map. Sure enough, it did. The hallways leading out of the room with the eggs were very wide, which must have been the reason all the large aliens were gestating in there. That meant the aliens would have to go through their base in order to get back to the hive.
David came back quietly, hoisting two grenade launchers with him. Charlie grabbed one, and they both loaded their weapons. David said, "Remember, if a Skulk gets too close, use your pistol." Charlie nodded.
David said, "Okay, we'll shoot from these crates here," motioning to a row of squat crates piled on each other; each stack was two crates high. He put his grenade launcher on top, then climbed over. Charlie did the same. The row of crates was surrounded by stacks of three crates, so they were relatively hidden.
David said, "Remember, once we start shooting, there's no stealth here. Don't be afraid to ask for health and ammo." Charlie nodded, and said, "Okay, can we just get shooting already?"
David grinned, and stood up. He aimed at the hive, and fired four grenades into it. Each explosion came after a short pause, and he heard a few alien screams. Charlie waited until David had started reloading, then did the same.
David closed his grenade launcher loading mechanism, but suddenly heard a clicking sound. He frowned, and drew his pistol. Before he knew what happened, Charlie was down on the ground, below the crates, clutching at his chest. There was a pool of blood spreading out beneath him.
David cried out, and saw the Skulk circling around Charlie, ready to make the kill. In his rage, he forgot that Charlie could not call out for a medpack in his condition, and jumped down, firing all ten rounds into the Skulk. He knelt down by his brother, whose face was pale and flecked with blood.
Charlie mouthed weakly, "Health," and David nodded. "Sarge, Charlie needs a medpack, now."
Langley said, "Oh no...I'm sorry, but we have no more resources. I used all we had on defenses and equipment. I won't even have enough for the four back at base."
David shook his head. He couldn't find the words, and simply knelt beside his brother, who was slowly dying. Charlie began moving his lips again, forming words. David leaned closer, trying to hear.
Charlie said weakly, "Finish it," and David nodded.
There are few things more frightening than someone enflamed with rage. Someone enraged and carrying heavy weapons is one of them. David jumped up on the crates and grabbed both grenade launchers. He reloaded Charlie's and jumped up onto the next pile of crates.
He fired at the hive with both grenade launchers, instantly heating up the cargo bay with the force of eight explosions. He dropped one and reloaded the other, then did the same for the one he dropped. He jumped off of the pile with a burst of speed, which he thought was just the desperation and rage. He was too busy firing to notice that Langley had managed to give him a catalyst pack.
Another eight explosions. On the last one, the hive finally collapsed from the ceiling, with what sounded like a howl. As it hit the ground, it exploded outwards from the force of the alien fluids inside. It was like dropping a balloon. The hive quivered on the ground, melting into alien sludge.
He threw away both of his launchers, and drew his pistol. He reloaded it as he saw a single Skulk climb out of the wall vent. He shot it, expending ten rounds. In disgust, he threw his pistol at the dead body. He started walking towards his brother's body.
As he walked, he suddenly felt a sharp impact on his back, causing him to spin and hit the ground on his back. He could see the form of a Skulk land on the ground a few meters away. With no options left, he drew his knife, and lay on the ground. He could feel blood flowing from his back.
As he expected, the Skulk came running back, and hopped on his chest. Lightning-quick, he rolled over and jabbed his knife into the Skulk. He stood up, and jabbed it again, just to make sure.
He suddenly came to his knees. Blood was flowing rapidly from his wound. Ignoring the pain, he crawled to his brother's body. He removed Charlie's helmet, then placed his brother's guns beside him. Charlie's face was peaceful.
David lay down on the ground, gasping weakly. <i>This is war</i>, he thought. <i>We fight for our lives, for the human race. Tragic things happen. It's war. But why, Charlie?</i>
<i>He was so young. I've failed</i>, he thought, as the life flowed out of him. Those were his final thoughts, and everything went dark.
<b>EPILOGUE</b>
Langley watched with both joy and sadness as the hive collapsed. Already, he could see the aliens were weakening. That didn't mean, however, that they would stop their assault. He looked on sadly as David died, too, and sent a message to the dropship:
<i>David and Charles Gray - died in service. They accomplished our mission. Send no more reinforcements.</i>
He heard a sudden roar, and looked at his tactical map. An Onos charged out of the left entrance, and started rampaging through the base. All four marines circled around it, trying to bring it down. Soon, more of the Kharaa followed. A pair of Fades walked in. One began to slash at the turret factory, while the other slashed through Hugh's torso.
One Fade suddenly collapsed. It had tried to run, but was killed by turrets. Its body collapsed on a Gorge and a Skulk, crushing them. A pair of Skulks tried to help the assault, but were cut down by the turrets.
Mark's replacement dodged a Fade's swipe, but fell on the ground. The Onos crushed him. Barry's replacement had jumped on the Onos's back, and was stabbing it, because he had no more ammunition. A pair of Gorges spit at him, and he fell to the ground, clutching at his face. The Fade impaled him.
Only Warren remained. He ran up the metal staircase he had seen earlier. He knew the Fade was still following him, and that it didn't have enough energy to blink. He ran up to the catwalks, then turned, and pumped his shotgun. The Fade almost seemed scared by the gun, but ran forward anyway. Warren blasted the Fade as he backpedaled, but he tripped on his fifth shot, and it went high.
The Fade saw its chance and started forward. It came close to Warren, and he raised his legs. He kicked the Fade, pushing himself backwards on the catwalk. The Fade grunted in surprise, as Warren got to his feet and started running at it. Before it could get away, he fired three more shotgun blasts, and the Fade fell.
Warren leaned over the railing, watching the carnage below. The Onos was still charging through the base, though it looked weakened. The smaller aliens had died from the lack of their hive, but he could see two Fades appear from the left doorway.
Langley knew it was over. He told the marines onboard the dropship, "Don't send any more reinforcements. We're finished," as he prepared to leave the chair and go down in a blaze of glory. As he was about to log out, he heard Warren's voice.
"No, Sarge! Don't log out yet. I know there's an airlock here, somewhere. We can take out all these aliens now, and ensure the removal of infestation."
Langley wondered at Warren's survival, and quickly accessed the ship's computers, searching for the airlock control. "Ah, okay. There's a door across the space in the catwalks, on the other side. The room there has stairs that lead down to the control room. The airlock control is there. It has a window overlooking the dropship bay."
Warren ran across the catwalk, and followed Langley's instructions. He opened the door, and ran down the stairs. He stopped as he entered the room. Standing before him was a Fade. It turned, and slashed him across the torso before he knew what happened. It simply watched as he stumbled around, looking for the airlock before he died.
He suddenly saw it on the control panel. He tried to press it, but collapsed. With the last of his strength, he hoisted himself up and onto the control panel, pressing all of the buttons with his body. The Fade looked at him curiously, before slashing open the overlooking window, and jumping out.
Warren could see the destruction in the bay. Only the command chair remained. The Onos had finally collapsed without its hive, but the Fades were busy destroying the chair. In his daze, he thought he heard a series of beeps. Everything started to turn grey, and the last thing he saw was the image of Langley exiting the chair.
Langley heard the ship's computer speak. "Ten seconds to release airlock." He logged out, and started firing his LMG wildly. He knew it was over. His spray of bullets caught the attention of a Fade, which tried to shield itself with its claws. It had been weakened without a hive, and he knew he could at least kill this one. He threw his LMG at the Fade, and fired his pistol. The Fade staggered backwards, blood flowing from its wounds. As Langley dove forward with his knife, the Fade swung upwards with its claw. Both fell to the ground, dead.
There was a sudden whooshing sound as the air left the dropship bay. The Fades looked up in surprise, then fear, as they, along with everything else, were sucked out of the bay.
The bodies of the dead were carried out silently, going peacefully to their fate. Deep within the warship, the two brothers laid beside each other, as the ship floated through the empty, tranquil space.
Seriously, you really should write a book like this.
Really you should.
It would be fantastic
At that moment, a Skulk jumped upwards, and tore out Guy's throat. Langley swore on the channel. "Hugh and Warren, we've lost Guy, too.
Jump forward to - Hugh and Warren returned to the base, where a turret factory awaited them. They built it, then set up several turrets. A flash of light signaled the arrival of their reinforcements.
The first one nodded to Hugh. "Glad to help, Hugh."
He nodded back. "You too, Barry."
The second one stepped off of the infantry portal, and unholstered his pistol. "Still don't like those LMGs, Mark?" <b>asked Guy.</b> Mark smirked, and patted his pistol.
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Guy is still dead, yet he's talking <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
EDIT: Okay, fixed now, thanks.