NOVEL WEB Chapter 229: Chapter 229 "Hivewake"
The mobile infantry units-Team A-01 and K-12-stepped into the warship John A. Warden, followed closely by a battalion of Terran Marines, Firebats, Marauders, and Medics from the StarCraft universe. The ship was pitch-black, consumed by a heavy, suffocating darkness. The air was damp and eerily still, the atmosphere hostile and cold, as if the ship had long since died and been forgotten.
Team A-01 and K-12 moved under the direct orders of Captain Carmen Ibanez, while the Terran forces followed the command of Emperor Kenthelion. He had also dispatched a squad of modern soldiers from the Underworld universe-USS troopers now field-testing infantry gear from the Starship Troopers timeline. For Kenthelion, this mission was the perfect live-combat exercise-dangerous, unpredictable, and absolutely real.
---
Pre-Boarding: Final Briefing Session
Henry Varro stood in the center of the staging room, his expression grim, his voice carrying the weight of command.
Henry Varro
"Team One: Tony Daugherty, Trig, Mech, Shock Jock-you're escorting Captain Ibanez to the main bridge."
Without missing a beat, he turned to the next group.
Henry Varro
"Team Two: Jace, Bugspray, Kharo, Chow, Gunfodder, Ratzass, Holyman-the rest of you, you're with me. We're heading to engineering."
He paused to address the combined forces drawn from across universes.
Henry Varro
"Alesia's forces will be led personally by Captain Kenthelion. No one knows what's waiting for us inside that ship. So prepare for the worst. And if we die... we die fighting."
A tense silence settled over the room-then a voice from the comms broke through the static.
Comm Officer 1
"Alesia's bridge has successfully linked to John A. Warden. Oxygen levels: zero. Repeat, there is no breathable atmosphere aboard John A. Warden. All units, activate life-support systems."
One by one, helmets sealed shut. Weapons were checked and re-checked. Sensors blinked on in the darkness.
The mission had begun.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "We're in. Team A-01 advancing toward the bridge."
Daugherty's voice came through clearly over the comms. He raised a hand, and the mobile infantry unit moved forward in a cautious formation.
Captain Carmen Ibanez followed behind, flanked by fully armed USS soldiers.
Major Henry Varro
> "Team Two has landed. Moving to the engineering compartment."
Varro led the K-12 infantry unit down a different route, slicing through the darkness that haunted the corridors of John A. Warden.
The soldiers advanced through the ship's corridors with trained, deliberate steps. Silence pressed in on them. The only sounds were the metallic clink of armored boots and the rhythmic hiss of breath within their sealed helmets.
Suddenly, a soldier at the front raised a fist-signaling a full stop.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "Something ahead. Full alert."
Seconds later, they saw it-bodies, floating in the darkness.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty (shocked, grim)
> "Negative... they're corpses. A lot of them."
They moved in closer. The beams from their helmet lights cut through the void, illuminating dozens of bodies drifting in eerie silence, slowly rotating in zero gravity.
Carmen (holding her breath, whispering)
> "Dear God..."
They were the crew of John A. Warden-her crew. Some still wore their official uniforms. Many bore terrible injuries.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "Team Two, copy this: multiple corpses found near the bridge sector. Widespread pattern."
Sergeant Mech
> "These wounds... brutal. Looks like they were shredded-by insects."
Major Henry Varro
> "Acknowledged. All units, stay sharp."
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "This was a massacre. Eyes open, everyone."
His tone was grave as he sent the warning across all open channels.
When they reached the bridge, they were greeted by something worse. Bodies were everywhere-in every corner, every console. Even a few Warrior Bugs-biological enemies they all knew and hated-lay still and mangled, their carapaces shattered.
The mobile infantry swept the area, clearing it room by room, until it was confirmed: the bridge sector was secure.
Carmen (silent at first, then quietly speaking)
> "They were all... my crew."
She stepped slowly into the center of the room, her eyes fixed on twenty-four cold, lifeless bodies. Her gaze was distant, stunned.
"I left them only for a moment..."
Major Henry Varro
> "This is Major Henry. Team Two reporting: large number of dead soldiers found in engineering."
Private Holyman
> "How'd they die down here?"
His voice carried confusion and caution as he stared at the scattered bodies on the dark steel floor.
Major Henry Varro
> "Focus, Private. We've got a mission."
His tone was cold and commanding. He turned to the lead technician.
Major Henry Varro
> "Chow, prep for power system reboot."
Private Chow
> "Ready, sir!"
Major Henry Varro
> "How long will it take to restart John A. Warden's power systems?"
Private Chow
> "Ten minutes at most, sir."
Major Henry Varro
> "Make it five."
Without waiting for a reply, Varro tapped the communicator on his shoulder.
Major Henry Varro
> "Team One, A-01, this is Major Henry. We're rebooting John A. Warden's power in five minutes. Stay sharp."
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "Quick question, Major. Five minutes... or 'five minutes'? Over."
Major Henry Varro
> "Closer to five. Don't expect a tech miracle."
Major Henry Varro
> "We've also detected a possible survivor. Investigating now. Over."
Private Holyman
> "Major, we found someone alive."
Varro moved instantly.
Major Henry Varro
> "You and I will check it out. Everyone else, hold position."
He pointed and barked more orders.
Major Henry Varro
> "Gunfodder, secure the perimeter. Ratzass, Bugspray-cover Chow."
Gunfodder
> "Roger that, Major. We'll babysit your golden boy."
Varro activated the tactical light on his helmet and moved forward with Holyman. Every shadow held danger. Corpses littered the corridor, and deep claw marks in the steel walls whispered of something savage and deadly.
---
In the control center, Private Chow was close to completing the emergency power reboot.
Carmen Ibanez
> "Backup power from Alesia looks stable. We're almost there."
She pressed the intercom, issuing a ship-wide command.
Carmen
> "All units, brace yourselves. John A. Warden's emergency power is coming online. Team One, Team Two-prepare for gravity restoration. Countdown: five... four... three... two... one..."
A low hum vibrated through the ship as the artificial gravity system reactivated. The floating corpses suddenly dropped, crashing onto the metal floor with heavy, lifeless thuds.
Some soldiers flinched, instinctively raising their weapons.
Carmen
> "Internal oxygen levels have returned to safe range. You may disengage independent life support."
---
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "It'd be a lot more comforting if we knew who-or what-slaughtered these bugs."
He gestured toward the twisted corpse of a Warrior Bug lying near the main console.
Carmen (gazing grimly at the remains)
> "Aren't we all thinking the same thing?"
[Interior: Deck 7 Corridor, Sector K-12, Battleship John A. Warden - Dark, silent, lit only by helmet lamps]
Major Henry's team halted in front of a heavy steel security door. The control panel glowed red-locked from the inside. Through the narrow window at the center, only darkness loomed.
Private Holyman
> "It's locked, Major. From the inside."
Suddenly, a weak, anxious voice crackled through the door's internal speaker.
Carl Jenkins
> "Who's out there...?"
Major Henry Varro
> "Major Henry Varro. Identify yourself."
Carl Jenkins
(His voice sharpened-paranoid and bitter)
> "Henry? You should be standing trial... not out here..."
Major Henry Varro
(Cold, firm, with growing tension)
> "And you should've never toyed with things you couldn't control. What happened on this ship, Jenkins?"
Silence. Then, a twisted, broken laugh.
Carl Jenkins
> "I played with it... and it struck back..."
Major Henry Varro
> "What is it?"
Carl Jenkins
(His voice trembled-equal parts fear and awe)
> "It wasn't part of the plan... It turned on us. On me, this ship... the systems... I think it knows everything."
Private Gunfodder
(Quietly)
> "He's starting to sound like one of his own test subjects..."
Major Henry Varro
> "We need to get him out. He might be the only living witness."
Carl Jenkins
(Yelling from behind the door)
> "You're insane if you think I'm coming out! This is the safest place on the whole damn ship! Out there... it's still there!"
Major Henry Varro
> "Open the door, Jenkins. That's an order."
Carl Jenkins
(His voice rising, unraveling into a frenzy)
> "No! No! You don't know what you're dealing with! Don't turn on the lights! It... it likes the light... it comes when you shine!"
Private Ratzass
(Looking to the Major)
> "Orders, sir?"
Major Henry Varro
(Studying the door, then exhaling sharply)
> "Leave him. For now. We hold this corridor. Nothing goes in... or out."
Carl Jenkins
(Muttering from inside, a near-whispered mantra)
> "Remember... the dark is your friend. Never turn on the lights..."
Then the power surged back on-
And in an instant, everything changed.
Deep within the hidden chambers of the John A. Warden's hull, something ancient and malevolent stirred. The Arachnid Queen-an intelligent, nightmarish monstrosity-awakened. Her thoughts reached into the ship's systems, seizing control with eerie precision. One by one, heavy containment doors hissed open with hydraulic shrieks.
Locked no longer, swarms of Warrior Bugs flooded out.
The ambush was swift and catastrophic.
For the mobile infantry scattered through the corridors, it became a waking nightmare. In a matter of minutes, dozens of soldiers were torn apart-ripped, clawed, overwhelmed from every direction. The sterile metal halls became a blood-slick slaughterhouse. Those who survived the first onslaught scrambled to retreat, sprinting for their lives, but the bugs came fast and relentless-crawling from vents, crashing through ceiling panels, erupting from the very walls.
---
Meanwhile, at the ship's main entry hatch-
Kenthelion stood motionless.
Flanked by Terran Marines, Firebats, and Marauders, he watched as the flickering lights along the corridor stabilized. The systems were coming back online.
He didn't wait.
Kenthelion
> "Prepare to engage. Open the box."
One of the Marines turned to him-hesitant, pale-but obeyed without question.
Terran Officer
> "Yes, Emperor-uh, Captain! Right away!"
With a swift motion, he unsealed a massive steel crate marked BIOHAZARD. Cold vapor hissed outward, blanketing the floor. From the mist, something clawed its way into view-an abomination clad in a tattered yellow combat jacket, muscles grotesquely swollen, long metallic talons dripping thick green ichor. Its face was barely human anymore.
The Zombie Wolverine had been unleashed.
Kenthelion
> "We head for the bridge. Zombie Wolverine clears the path. If it crawls, skitters, or hisses-kill it."
His voice cut like a blade-sharp, commanding, final.
Kenthelion
> "Team C, take the vanguard. Team D, cover the rear. Support units-sweep every corridor and secure all adjoining zones. Move!"
The Terran forces shifted into formation with practiced speed. Boots thundered against steel floors, their shadows dancing under flickering lights, weapons primed.
Now, the counterattack began.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
"Captain Carmen, we need to fall back to the Alesia! There's too many of them!" Daugherty shouted, firing his weapon at the encroaching swarm of Warrior Bugs. Each burst of gunfire sent thick green ichor spraying from the creatures' shredded bodies.
Carmen
"We can't go back!" Carmen snapped, her voice tight with tension.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
"What do you mean?" Daugherty glanced at her briefly, still squeezing off rounds.
Carmen
"The Alesia is gone... We can't return now," she said, her tone tinged with helplessness. She lowered her head for a moment, struggling to hold back her frustration and disbelief. She'd never imagined the swarm would be this massive-and worse, that bastard Kenthelion had moved the warship without warning, afraid it might get shot down by the John A. Warden.
Back when Kenthelion first mentioned the possibility of the ship being compromised, she had dismissed it as paranoia. But now, with the chaos unraveling before her, there was no denying the truth-their vessel was completely out of their control.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
"They left us? Are you serious?!" Daugherty bit back the curse that hovered on the tip of his tongue. His face twisted in disbelief and fury. He and his squad hadn't expected Alesia to just disappear and leave them stranded in the middle of a warzone.
Carmen
"Captain Kenthelion feared the John A. Warden would open fire on the Alesia. So he pulled the ship out first. If we retake the Warden, Alesia will come back."
The words tasted bitter in Carmen's mouth, but she knew she had to say them-to keep everyone focused, to stop them from being paralyzed by betrayal.
Deborah
"That cowardly bastard probably ran off already..." Deborah muttered coldly, her eyes narrowing with fury. She couldn't accept that Kenthelion hadn't shown up to rescue them. Not after everything they'd been through-especially the private, intimate things. And now he'd vanished like a spineless deserter.
Tia Durer
"He ran again. Next time I see him, I'm blowing his head off."
Tia's voice was flat, emotionless. There was only cold determination in her eyes. She hugged her sniper rifle tight, finger ready on the trigger the moment the opportunity came.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy metal footsteps echoed through the smoke and haze of battle. The metallic clank of armor and the rhythmic hum of servo motors filled the narrow corridor, now reeking of insect blood and scorched steel.
Kenthelion emerged from the corner, walking casually as if the place weren't a battlefield drenched in carnage. His stride was steady, unhurried, and his sharp eyes scanned the situation with the certainty of a commander who knew exactly what he was doing. Behind him, Dominion Terran Marines and Firebats unleashed hell upon the Arachnid swarm, bullets and fire cutting down the enemy with brutal precision.
The bugs exploded one after another as rounds from the C-14 Impaler Gauss Rifles tore through them. The corridor turned into a hellish furnace as the Firebats scorched entire clusters of Arachnids, burning them down like dry brush in summer.
Terran Marine
> "Seriously? This is it? The Zerg on Char put up more of a fight."
One of the Marines let out a dry chuckle as he blew apart two Warrior Bugs in a single burst.
Terran Firebat
> "Heh. These bugs? Even the ones on Mar Sara were more annoying."
A Firebat snorted from behind his reinforced helmet, torching three Warriors until only their blackened shells remained.
Behind them, Terran Medics moved like clockwork, injecting stimpacks and patching up injuries with machine-like precision. There was no panic-only purpose. They weren't a rescue team. They were seasoned bioengineered war machines.
Kenthelion paused, then spoke. His voice was calm and sharp as a blade, while the Marines, Firebats, and Medics secured the area around him.
Kenthelion
> "So... who said they were going to blow my head off?"
Carmen and the others immediately turned. Kenthelion stood tall behind the veil of smoke, flanked by a force that looked far more advanced than anything they'd ever seen. Alongside the heavily armed troops were humanoid creatures in tattered yellow combat jackets, with long, gleaming claws and bodies built for one thing-killing.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty
> "Watch out! Weird things behind you!"
he shouted, instantly raising his rifle at the creatures flanking Kenthelion.
Kenthelion
> "Relax. They're just our trash-tier bioweapons."
He lifted one hand nonchalantly. "They're tame... as long as they're not hungry."
He scanned the room briefly, assessing the situation, then issued orders with a crisp tone of authority.
Kenthelion
> "Form a defensive perimeter immediately. I want a heavy autocannon set up-right now. We've got enough ammo, and I don't want a single one of those damn bugs breaching this point."
The Mobile Infantry troops responded instantly. They moved fast, setting up heavy guns, stacking tactical barriers, and planting high-yield grenades at choke points.
Meanwhile, the Terran Marines simply held position, watching the USS soldiers with thinly veiled amusement. To them, these soldiers looked like third-world conscripts. Their own armor gleamed silver, their weapons hummed with high-density energy, and the way they stood-silent, composed, deadly-spoke of countless battles fought and survived.
USS Team Officer
> "Ready, Captain!"
They replied sharply, though some voices trembled under the weight of the situation.
Lieutenant Tony Daugherty eyed the USS weapons with skepticism. They moved fast, sure-but to him, they still looked like amateurs who just happened to have shiny toys.
Kenthelion
> "Tia Durer... I hear you've been talking about blowing my head off."
Tia Durer
> "You heard wrong. I was talking about bug heads."
Tia replied flatly. Her expression didn't change, eyes cold and unreadable, finger still near the trigger.
Carmen
> "More bugs incoming," she warned Kenthelion, her voice tightening with alertness.
Kenthelion had barely turned when the roar of a heavy weapon's spin-up thundered through the corridor.
Terran Marine Officer
> "Listen, kid. This ain't a toy. You either learn fast or die faster. Your call.
Another Terran Marine Officer
> "And don't expect backup. We're here to protect the captain-not clean up your mess."
USS Team Officer
> "Understood, sir."
But beneath their calm replies, the modern soldiers of the USS were quietly falling apart. Panic simmered behind their helmets, threatening to break through the veneer of discipline. Their eyes darted over the blood-soaked corridor, where the stench of gunpowder and insect gore clung to every breath.
They were trained for conventional warfare-for conflicts where the enemy could be understood, eliminated, or negotiated with.
But this...
This wasn't war.
This was slaughter.
This was hell, governed by alien logic.
The battlefield had been transformed by Imperium Caelestis weaponry-technology far beyond their comprehension. A single shot could send a body flying five meters. One explosion could erase an entire squad in the blink of an eye. Even the mechanical hum of a Terran Marine's armor was enough to make them break out in cold sweat.
USS Team Officer
> "Open fire!"
The order snapped them back to reality-and the autocannons roared to life.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
Dozens of heavy autocannons unleashed a storm of cased rounds. Their fire tore into the swarm of Arachnids charging down the corridor. Each bullet ripped through flesh and shell, mutilating the massive insectoids with terrifying efficiency. Organs burst. Carapaces shattered. The floor was painted in a spray of sizzling green gore.
Bug bodies were flung like ragdolls. Severed limbs rained down across the iron-plated floor. The hissing of acidic fluids hitting overheated barrels filled the air with the sound of burning death.
From the dark edges of the corridor, genetically engineered abominations surged forward-zombie-like Wolverines clad in worn yellow armor, with metal claws longer than a man's forearm. They darted through the shadows like living nightmares, cutting down Arachnids trying to breach the perimeter from narrow gaps.
Every swipe of their claws shredded insect flesh with ease-like hot blades through butter. Their movements were fast, savage, and utterly unpredictable. They made no sound. Showed no hesitation. Only raw, engineered killing instinct burned in their soulless eyes.
The corridor became a mass grave. And for the USS soldiers, this was their first real lesson...
in what it truly meant to fight a war that did not belong to their world.