you can shed anymore light on this situation?” Enzo asked as they settled into a quick walk through the corridors of the derelict research level.
“Not really,” Lee replied. “When it happened, there was a lot of chaos. A lot of people dying, the Altered everywhere, and-”
Enzo interrupted her. “Altered?”
“Yeah. That's what they're called. I'm not sure where the name came from, heard it over the net before the comms died the first time. I guess that's what the scientists called them, officially. We just call them freaks or mutants. There seemed to be a never-ending wave of them. There were dozens of us at first, Marines I mean, but they just kept coming. Overran all our defenses. Now, as far as I know, there's only three of us left. Myself, Staff Sergeant Stern and Corporal Beam. They're up top, in the living quarters, two levels up.”
“And the command center is directly above us?” Enzo replied.
“Yes. Well, technically it's the Military Headquarters.”
“What's the situation up there? I overhead some of the Dark Ops guys mentioning that there's something preventing them from getting up there.”
“There is. Some kind of huge Altered. At some point, we're going to have to deal with it, because we'll need direct access to the Control Room. A lot of shit went down here. Our CO and the people that sent us figured it wasn't exactly legal, ethical or moral. Or safe. Unfortunately, we kept getting the runaround, so by the time we were actually beginning to make progress on seeing just what, exactly, Dark Operations was up to, the shit hit the fan,” Lee explained.
“Political and bureaucratic bullshit. This is why I left Spec Ops,” Enzo muttered.
“You were in Spec Ops?”
“Yeah, a while ago.”
They fell silent as they neared their target. The air was becoming thick with the decayed reek of the Altered. The corridor they were in came to an end. A handful of doors lined the walls, each leading to storage bays and maintenance areas. The one they wanted would take them to a primary power relay that was routing power for Dietz's lab. The first part of their grand plan. Enzo hit the access button and peered into the room.
What awaited him gave him pause.
The maintenance bay was a long, rectangular room, studded with clusters of lockers, stacks of crates and workbenches. Along the back was the primary power relay, built into the wall. Taking up the far right corner of the room was an immense Nest, easily three or four times the size of the one Enzo had burned several levels down. Not one but two Guardians occupied the room. Both of the hideous things let out warning sounds as they settled their disturbing gazes on the intruders. They began to rush towards them.
“Shit,” Enzo snapped, raising his rifle, flipping it to full auto and opening fire.
Lee the did the same with her own piece. Twin streams of burning lead cut through the air, hitting both Guardians in their broad torsos and spraying thick, pulpy spews of gore across the room. Although the initial brunt of the assault hit them, the pair of beasts quickly dodged and duck, scrambling across the room towards the survivors, making them difficult to hit. Enzo cursed as he emptied his rifle, his Guardian still standing and coming towards him.
He began reloading, backing up as he did so, but the thing leaped at him, closing the final distance between them in a second. It smashed into him and they both went flying. The rifle flew from his hands. He heard Lee shouting but there was no time for that. Enzo rolled, not even bothering to look for his rifle. His hand went to the pistol at his side. Tearing it free, he finally came to a halt and took aim, lining up his sights.
Once again, he found himself pumping rounds into a Guardian from a lying position. He stitched a bloody line up the thing's massive chest, put two rounds through its neck and then three more directly into its skull, spraying its brains across the ceiling. The creature fell
“Not really,” Lee replied. “When it happened, there was a lot of chaos. A lot of people dying, the Altered everywhere, and-”
Enzo interrupted her. “Altered?”
“Yeah. That's what they're called. I'm not sure where the name came from, heard it over the net before the comms died the first time. I guess that's what the scientists called them, officially. We just call them freaks or mutants. There seemed to be a never-ending wave of them. There were dozens of us at first, Marines I mean, but they just kept coming. Overran all our defenses. Now, as far as I know, there's only three of us left. Myself, Staff Sergeant Stern and Corporal Beam. They're up top, in the living quarters, two levels up.”
“And the command center is directly above us?” Enzo replied.
“Yes. Well, technically it's the Military Headquarters.”
“What's the situation up there? I overhead some of the Dark Ops guys mentioning that there's something preventing them from getting up there.”
“There is. Some kind of huge Altered. At some point, we're going to have to deal with it, because we'll need direct access to the Control Room. A lot of shit went down here. Our CO and the people that sent us figured it wasn't exactly legal, ethical or moral. Or safe. Unfortunately, we kept getting the runaround, so by the time we were actually beginning to make progress on seeing just what, exactly, Dark Operations was up to, the shit hit the fan,” Lee explained.
“Political and bureaucratic bullshit. This is why I left Spec Ops,” Enzo muttered.
“You were in Spec Ops?”
“Yeah, a while ago.”
They fell silent as they neared their target. The air was becoming thick with the decayed reek of the Altered. The corridor they were in came to an end. A handful of doors lined the walls, each leading to storage bays and maintenance areas. The one they wanted would take them to a primary power relay that was routing power for Dietz's lab. The first part of their grand plan. Enzo hit the access button and peered into the room.
What awaited him gave him pause.
The maintenance bay was a long, rectangular room, studded with clusters of lockers, stacks of crates and workbenches. Along the back was the primary power relay, built into the wall. Taking up the far right corner of the room was an immense Nest, easily three or four times the size of the one Enzo had burned several levels down. Not one but two Guardians occupied the room. Both of the hideous things let out warning sounds as they settled their disturbing gazes on the intruders. They began to rush towards them.
“Shit,” Enzo snapped, raising his rifle, flipping it to full auto and opening fire.
Lee the did the same with her own piece. Twin streams of burning lead cut through the air, hitting both Guardians in their broad torsos and spraying thick, pulpy spews of gore across the room. Although the initial brunt of the assault hit them, the pair of beasts quickly dodged and duck, scrambling across the room towards the survivors, making them difficult to hit. Enzo cursed as he emptied his rifle, his Guardian still standing and coming towards him.
He began reloading, backing up as he did so, but the thing leaped at him, closing the final distance between them in a second. It smashed into him and they both went flying. The rifle flew from his hands. He heard Lee shouting but there was no time for that. Enzo rolled, not even bothering to look for his rifle. His hand went to the pistol at his side. Tearing it free, he finally came to a halt and took aim, lining up his sights.
Once again, he found himself pumping rounds into a Guardian from a lying position. He stitched a bloody line up the thing's massive chest, put two rounds through its neck and then three more directly into its skull, spraying its brains across the ceiling. The creature fell
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