Vivid Stars Online

For a long moment, I froze as terrifying memories surfaced. That same terrible screech had heralded a wave of pain, terror, and violence, cumulating in an explosion of corrupted power. Then, a soldier shifted nervously in front of me, glancing over his shoulder.

That snapped me right out of my flashback, returning me to the present moment. The situation wasn't the same as before. Instead of just Linnea and me, we had an entire squad of soldiers to help fight off the horde—soldiers we had trained with for just this moment.

The only question was if we should advance or retreat. Advancing would bring us into the Arkathian living quarters, providing us a more defensive position at the same door I'd held last time.

But it would also leave us trapped with no escape route—an all-or-nothing, last-stand maneuver that had no place on an expedition's first scouting mission. No, there was no reason to cut off our escape route now.

"About face and fall back at the double," I called out, even as I followed my advice. As a group, we turned and began jogging back toward the intersection. We'd trained this exact maneuver many times and had the experience to keep our ranks steady even at the increased speed.

It wasn't ideal that this put our heavy weapons team at the front, but we didn't have time for a proper reshuffle of our ranks. Besides, they were far from defenseless themselves, and Linnea was there.

It wasn't far to the intersection, but I still had time to make a few preparations. "Prepare for a left turn, followed by an about-face on my command. Close combat troops, draw spears."

Here, my restored Toughness stat showed its worth. A mere jog didn't wind me at all, even in my heavy gear, allowing me to easily continue shouting orders as we approached the turn-off.

"Enemies ahead, approaching at high speed," Linnea shouted from the front. "It's going to be close."

Fuck, I thought, biting my lip nervously under my helmet. They got here even faster than last time. Were they already waiting in ambush nearby? I strained my neck, trying to see ahead, but two ranks of soldiers were blocking my view.

All I could do was fall back on the situations we'd drilled for. "Front two ranks ready a moving grenade throw. Toss across the intersection as soon as the enemy approaches, then continue around the corner."

I could only hope that would stagger the horde's front lines, giving us the crucial moments we needed to get into position.

We continued jogging for several tense seconds before Linnea called the throw. The six people ahead of me tossed their already palmed grenades in near-perfect unison, the maneuver barely slowing their advance.

Ahead, the grenades detonated in a tidal wave of heat and sound, sending several people staggering despite knowing it was coming. To my astonishment, my helmet reacted before I could even process the situation, darkening my visor and damping the speakers to limit my exposure.

I'd known it had countermeasures in place from the manual, but I hadn't expected them to be this successful. I'd have to congratulate Elana on the work she and the other scientists had done if we got out of this alive.

The suit restored my senses as the explosion faded, returning my attention to the fight. Just ahead of me, the support team was rounding the corner, and only a half-dozen feet past them, I could see the edge of the horde.

Dozens of dead or injured spiders were temporarily blocking the hundreds behind them, though the horde's momentum was already beginning to trample them underfoot. We had seconds at most before they would be upon us.

But that was enough. My team rounded the corner even as I was taking the sight in, and I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure I got the timing right. The four close-combat soldiers were a half-dozen feet behind, their spears already in hand.

They rounded the corner just as the first spider's legs passed the corner that was now blocking my view of the passage leading deeper. "About face, engage using standard formation," I shouted, already spinning and pulling up my rifle.

I immediately put a short burst into the first spider as it tried to grapple my left-most close-combat soldier in the middle of her turn. While not enough to kill, the triple strike of burning plasma staggered the creature long enough for the soldier to plunge her spear into its chest.

An involuntary sigh of relief burst from my lips as more plasma bolts sizzled through the air around me. We'd secured the way back while maintaining the formation we'd trained so hard. If there were ever a chance for us to beat back the horde, it would be this one.

And if worst came to worst, we still had the portable generator in reserve. I just had to make sure I was aware enough of the overall situation to call for it if needed.

That was easier said than done.

Even in this tight corridor, a group battle like this was chaotic. Ahead, dozens of spiders tried to force their way through, with only the brave spear-wielding soldiers between them and us.

The left-most side was hit the hardest — being adjacent to the corridor the enemy was pouring out of — but plenty of spiders had wrapped around the back to harry the right side as well.

If it had just been the close-combat troops unsupported, then there was no doubt the sheer mass of enemies would have pushed them back in short order. Thankfully, they weren't alone.

The two scouts and I were closest behind them, all three of us taking careful shots in the gaps between the front-line troops. It was dangerous, nerve-wracking work that required pin-point accuracy to avoid friendly fire, but it was necessary.

Every time we struck an enemy, it halted or even sent them stumbling back. While few shots got outright kills, it was enough to stem the enemies's momentum and stop the spear troops from being immediately overwhelmed.

Even so, they were steadily retreating, step by step, as they used their greater reach to fend off the enemies we couldn't hit. This was quickly eating up the short distance I'd left between the first two ranks, but it was again something we'd trained for.

"Ranged troops fall back five steps," I called out, then gave it a second before I moved in sync with the scouts on either side of me. We had plenty of room in the empty corridor behind us, so keeping the field open would allow the front line to continue gradually pulling back,

Which gave enough room for the heavy weapons squad to do their work at last. A shout from Linnea heralded the flight of three massive plasma balls. They flew over our heads and struck the spiders that were already forming a pile at the rear of the intersection.

The following explosion sent spiders flying left and right in a wave of superheated plasma. However, Linnea had judged the timing well, and the wave extended just far enough to singe backs of the spider front line without impacting our troops.

As the plasma cleared and my visor lit up again, it revealed dozens of charred corpses lying still and even more wounded spiders on the fringes of the blast. It was a heartening sight, but one that was soon swept away as another wave of enemies surged over their dead and injured kin.

Despite our early success, the fight had only just begun, and it soon turned into a seemingly endless slog. If my troops had only the strength and endurance of baseline humans, we'd have fallen after only a couple of minutes, but as it was, we continued to hold on.

The front line was continually on the verge of being overwhelmed; only the strength, training, and incredible bravery of those troops allowed them to keep falling back step by step.

While it kept us all alive, the gradual retreat stopped the growing corpse piles from ever blocking the corridor from floor to ceiling. There was always enough room for more spiders to swarm over the top, only to begin pilling up again as we killed them by the dozen.

Several times a minute, we got a brief respite as the cannon barrage at the rear struck, but even that began to slow as the heavy cannons struggled with overheating. Twice, I had to call another grenade throw to give them precious seconds to reload and swap out melting heat sinks.

The middle two groups—my scouts and the support team behind us—had the easiest time, but even for us, it was exhausting and mentally numbing work. We had to be at the top of our game every second to make sure we didn't shoot one of our own troops in the back.

Minute after minute, we teetered on the edge until, finally, something gave out. By this point, I was twitchy and frantic as I tried to keep on top of the entire chaotic and confusing situation. It was barely enough as I spied a soldier slipping on my left.

The strange spider blood had already flooded the floor, and in places, ongoing explosions had sent charred spider bits skidding behind the front line. It made for treacherous footing that had finally taken its first victim.

Time seemed to slow as I saw the soldier slip backward. While nowhere near as effective as Enhance Cognition—something I dearly wished I still had access to—it was enough for me to react.

"Medic!" I screamed as I darted forward, dropping my rifle to rest in its sling and crossing the intervening feet as fast as I could. The soldier reeled backward even as I did so, flaying his arms as he tried to find something, anything to hold on to.

Far from helping, this only pulled his spear out of position and left him open to the enemy. The spider before him lunged forward with its front two legs even as I reached out.

This close, I could see with horror that its front legs were different than the spiders I remembered. Instead of the usual feet, they ended in long, serrated claws that almost resembled swords.

They drew blood with a viscous thrust that carved through the trooper's amour with disturbing ease. The gurgled scream the man let out was dreadful and drove me even harder.

A moment later, I was within arms' reach. My left hand grasped the soldier's shoulder as I turned and threw him backward with as much force as my augmented combat armor could provide.

Which turned out to be quite a lot of force. The man was ripped off the serrated spider arms and sent skidding back across the floor non-too gently. I had no doubt caused him even more damage, but I'd gotten him to safety.

He'd at least have a chance back there once the medics got to him; here, he would have been dead without a doubt.

Tossing the man past my left shoulder had turned my entire upper body, winding it up like a spring. With a single, smooth movement, I drew my Psi blade and unleashed a titanic, cleaving swing as I unwound.

I might no longer have access to my powers, but my blade was still an ancient artifact of incredible sharpness. It swept straight through the creature's extended blade limbs, severing them almost effortlessly and sending the creature stumbling backward.

Straight into a perfectly timed barrage of cannon fire. The resulting explosion triggered my armor to dim my senses, but the gap it created gave me a bare moment to consider the situation.

We were really on the edge now, but I had to believe we were almost through after the sheer number we'd already killed. Even through my darkened visor, I could see the shapes of the other close-combat troops around me.

The one on my left was doing the worst, as the spiders were still hitting the left harder. The woman was gasping for breath and covered in minor wounds, but not down for the count.

To my right, the other two soldiers were better off. While still looking exhausted, they were falling back in good order with far fewer injuries.

It was the critical moment to either call for the shield generator and retreat or continue fighting. I'd already decided not to have a last stand today, but I wasn't sure we were at that stage yet.

And what I'd seen so far worried me. From the insane number of enemies, seemingly even more than the last time I was here, to the bladed limbs of that spider, it all pointed towards a single horrific truth.

Whatever was down here was adapting to us. If we left, would they devour the corpses again and somehow create even more enemies? Or would they camp out in the corridor and ambush us as soon as we came out of the lift?

With no time to fully consider my options, I made a snap decision. "Linnea, take command; I'm joining the front line," I shouted, my helmet transmitting the message straight to hers.

"Left front line soldier. Fall back two steps and let me take the brunt of them," I continued as I positioned myself to hold the entire left side. I had to repeat the last part several times, but eventually, it got through to her.

While my mind was exhausted from the mental pressure of command, my Toughness-boosted body was still ready to go. Between my supernaturally sharp blade and the bulk of my artificial muscle-enhanced amour, I was able to keep the enemy at bay.

But that didn't mean it was easy. It took everything I had to hold the position, and I'd never been as impressed with another human as I was with my front-line troops for keeping it up so long.

I could no longer watch the full battle as my world shrunk to cutting at the enemies in front of me. I trusted Linnea to call for a retreat if things deteriorated further and just cut, and cut, and cut.

Until, at last, I swung through empty air. Gasping, I looked around to see the last few stragglers being shot to pieces in front of a mountain of corpses.

We'd won.