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Shadow Part4: Don't Breath In
Posted By: MasterSushi<mastersushifp@hotmail.com>
Date: 7 October 2004, 4:03 PM
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Dedicated to the bridge structure and action guides. Without those lessons my stories would never have evolved in any way.
Tuk's body shook from side to side slightly as he walked onto the sandy beach. He checked his plasma pistol and switched on his arm shield. It flickered from aquamarine to ultramarine and then solidified. He looked at his beautiful surroundings and breathed in the fresh air. The trees swayed behind him and a salty aroma made its way into his head. He let of a small squeak as a hard object swung into the back of his head and stopped the sight seeing. His superior, Eto Tolkamee pushed passed and grunted at him. Tuk rubbed his shaven skull and proceeded further down the beach. He watched as a variety of troops lumbered off the ships and collected themselves ready for battle. Tuk saw their heads turn in the direction of a gleaming white sun. A dot appeared on the horizon. As it got closer two more birdlike articles followed it. They continued to advance closer and closer, giant, grey birds. Ships. Several Hunters took pot shots at the leader. One projectile hit but glanced off, doing little damage. The ship in front swerved forty degrees as if about to land. Then it did. Fifteen nameless ones hopped out two by two. They knelt down, as did Tuk. A veteran elite stepped beside Tuk, ignoring him but letting off a snarl to show his annoyance of this invasion. It had been inevitable, but three ships? Tuk squatted behind his shield and small metal objects bounced off of it.
Pestis pulled the stock of his MA5B up to his shoulder and fired short, accurate shots into the necks of the creatures. Some of his team managed to shred the heads off of some smaller aliens using the same technique, but a particular Jackal, very near to them was being very persistent in its defence. A red armoured Elite stood beside it, a plasma weapon raised and ready to fire. A sharp, female voice called behind Pestis, warning him that she had thrown one of their two frag grenades. A pillar of smoke and fire erupted underneath the startled Elite but unfortunately the Jackal manage to scamper away before it had gone off. Pestis looked around him and saw many of the smaller aliens were doing the same thing. Running into the forest, their guns above their scrawny heads.
Two other Pelicans rested down, further along the beach on either side of Pestis. More columns of flame and dust were expelled from the small, metal grenades they brought with them and over the shouts and roars, squeals could be heard as bodies flew overhead. A flash of icy blue caught Pestis' eye and he saw nine burnt bodies of the squad to his left scattered across the sand. "Spread out!" he called to his team and he signalled to the other two Squad Leaders to do the same. The Ignigena dispersed but made sure to preserve a rigid pattern.
Pestis strafed right, firing accurate bursts into the necks and chests of doomed alien scum. A intense heat sparked Pestis' back and he turned to face the threat. A large blue and orange juggernaut charged towards him forcing him to roll out of its path. As he did so a heavy, metal weight fell close to where Pestis' knee had been only a second before, and splashed sand on to his face like ember caught by the wind. Pestis hastily dragged himself from the dusty floor and swung his M90 to his hip. His shot was postponed by another rush which he managed to avoid. The gun jutted backwards into his waist as he pulled back on the trigger and watched as if in slow motion as eight slugs were discharged from the weapon and soared through the air, penetrating into the soft, fleshy abdomen of the alien. Thick, orange blood exploded from the creature and sprayed the Ignigena's combat uniform and there was a loud thud as the hulking creature slammed onto the floor. Pestis noticed his Assault Rifle situated a few metres from him but the hefty shotgun would be more than useful on its own. Only seconds later, several thuds burst from the muzzle of his weapon and numerous Grunts lay dead at his feet.
The Ossoona's camouflage flickered off and Mena Ottoldee walked up to the throne. The silence engulfed Mena but he tried to ignore it. The pale creature stared back at him, as if it had known all along that Mena had crept past its guards and entered its throne room. The pitted eyes gaped at Mena and the alien stood. Immensely large tentacles arose around it from the bak of its head and it spoke to him in its guttural language. Mena listened to the rasping growls, interrupted by harsh clicks. "I am glad my soldiers let you enter," it said. This angered Mena. He had infiltrated the fortress. He had used his advanced cunning to manoeuvre around its twisted halls. An insult like that would not usually be tolerated but for the good of his empire he would let it pass. "I must warn you. Call your men off my planet. Underground. There's something underground." The Eye of the Prophet found it hard to understand the language but managed to piece it together. He'd taken somewhat of a crash course on the language, but he could speak it quite well. It was understanding the puzzles that the things spoke in that tested his language skills to the limit. "The scaly birds. They have no eyes but they can see. They see more than possible. They make you see too. That's bad. You see the hole. The pit. Your night images flash in your vision. Bad ones. Very bad one."
"Stop these riddles," spoke Mena in their language, "What pit, what night images?" Dreams. It hit him as soon as he had said it himself. Nightmares. Such hellish creatures were myth. Things in legends.
"Do not go underground. They will consume your soul and your..." the creature snarled a word Mena did not understand. He had heard of it before. His masters that taught him had told him that it was indefinable. The equivalent of a heart or mind.
"There is something we need underground. Something of extreme importance to us." Mena retorted, "If we don't get it something terrible shall happen. To you the dangers of not retrieving it are great, after all it is your planet."
"The thing you quest for is not there." The alien released a grimy laugh from his numerously jawed mouth. "There is only caves and corridors." A crimson anger spewed inside Mena. Nothing there? His Eminence wouldn't like that. Mena may be executed with such news. His former successes may help him though; he might pull through. And they would go underground anyway. This creature was a lying fool. Mena would not listen to it. He would tell the Exalted One what must really be down there. The artefacts of the highest value. He only hoped that the ethereal powers above the Holy Ones would forgive him. Mena stormed from the room. His denial broken up only by a grinding laugh which would continue to resound in Mena's head for as long as he lived. And that may not be long.
Ankou fired short bursts of his rifle into the dissipating cloud of alien shit. Almost all his squad had been KIA due to some kind of grenade. Only three of team remained standing. A dark haired girl named Kunoichi and a robust looking lad called Samana. Each were fairly close together despite being ordered to spread out. The aliens were now dropping very quickly. A lack of fire power would most likely be their downfall. With another alien dead almost every second, they were trapped in a spiral of death. Ankou smiled at the thought. And he loved it. Each time he brought a butt down onto a grunt and felt the neck crack in a grotesque way, he smiled. He relished the fight. It was well known that the Ignigena were long rivals of the Tenebrae, the two of them had the most powerful fighting stances in Tetrao. While the Tenebrae got an unknown elation in the Hunt, the Ignigena embraced the Fight itself. Ankou felt the flow of air sculpt itself around his body as he flowed around a melee attack and retaliated with one of his own.
The two squads on either side of Pestis were running low on frags. Pestis would wait for a few minutes more and then let his squad use the sulphur dioxide and trioxide grenades. He looked forward to the sweet smell of the burning latter as it mixed with the water vapour in the air. But he knew better than to smell such dangerous acid for too long. The strengthened concoction would melt his skin and his lungs. Hopefully the aliens would be the ones to smell the sulphur. Then lick the ground.
Shadow swerved through the dim corridors with as much grace as he could. But his wounds slowed him down considerably and a few would be fatal if he didn't get back outside in time. Clutching his side he scurried through the halls, blood dripped over his fingers. His left arm, he dragged along the wall searching for corners and the like. It was with this hand that he felt the smooth, engraved surface of the alien structure break away into a rough, jagged cave wall. He continued deeper but could go no further when a screaming noise entered his ears. It was high pitched and brought up terrible memories into his head. Some long forgotten, some recent which had left open wounds. He had to get away. He ran back towards the mouth of the cave when giant, white eyes gaped at him. They moved as if searching for him. Torches. But those holding them weren't marines, and the beam emitting the light couldn't be being constructed from a standard, human light bulb. Shadow sprung to the side and flattened himself against the wall of the cavern. He could see the silhouette of four elites. They pointed further down the grotto and snarled at each other. A deep, sneering noise. The advanced moving away from Shadow, who had dare not move. Then they dropped to their knees. One by one as if their strength had left them. A roar drained from them and Shadow squinted to see what had happened. There was nothing at first, but then a large birdlike creature bounded towards them. It squawked calling more. Shadow saw they had no eyes and their skin was a morbid green which stretched itself between their bones. He was transfixed, paralysed with dread and horror as he watched the cluster of birds peck at the flesh, tearing it off and throwing it into their skinny gullets. Shadow ran back through the tunnels. He would find a way out. He had to.
Pestis turned his attention to the forest and saw that two rows of Immani had assembled on a long mound and held long rifles in their arms. The first row crouched and loaded their weapons as the back line fired. Seconds later the file in front did the same. Pestis watched Demeter's squad on his left deteriorate as small bugs burrowed into any orifice they could find. The squad teared at their eye sockets as the small slugs ate into them. Pestis finally made a frantic signal to use the sulphur and his team acknowledged him. They hurled the SD and ST grenades into the lines and watched as puffs of sulphur appeared in the air. It burnt its way into the Immani's moist flesh, corroding their lungs as they choked. The battle would end soon. Very soon.
To be continued...
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