"At this point I'm beginning to think Gideon himself needs to be giving us hazard pay."
Neil had outfitted himself in a similar fashion to the Captain, wearing similar trousers but keeping his signature crimson shirt on. He had a pawned 40mm grenade launcher he had bought when they'd made it to the last system. Something flexible but heavy duty, and this fit the bill with a 6 slot revolver style action. His real revolver was at his hip and ready to be used in a quickdraw if need be, but at the moment he needed to hang back as he lowered the Freighter into the atmosphere.
They drifted downwards, through the clouds until they entered the harsh stormlands. Even through the Xarconian hulls, they could feel the heavy rain drip-drop pittering. Thunder roared next to them, lightning flashing at an alarming rate as they descended into what looked to be what he could only describe as a killing field of horror. Uploading the visuals below for all to see, on every moniter, a battle was displayed.
Human guardsmen huddled up in a makeshift shelter, stoicly holding the line along a natural rock formation on a mountainous rise. They were each armed with the latest plasma rifle, and there was even a raised platform with a large caliber plasma-cannon continuously firing into the distance methodically, as if it was on auto-fire when in fact the soldier sitting atop it seemed to be as desperate as the rest of them. Behind the line of guards, a small cruiser lay atop the stone, half cracked. There were probably others inside.
Neil stuck out his tongue in disgust at the monstrosities that assailed them. They looked to have crawled out of some nightmare. With seven arms and a slick, muscled body that looked as if they could crush stone pillars, their physiology roiled beneath their utterly mollusk-like heads. Fully three meters tall and loping up the mountain face with an ease that belied logic and physics, they fearlessly assaulted the men. Some of the monsters had captured some of the human soldiers, using them as playthings before the eyes of the surviving guardsmen, ripping off hands and perhaps a single leg, before tossing them to others of their kind to devour. As they held the helpless men, the xenos wiggled as if in ecstacy.
Upon closer inspection, the aliens moved in a concerted wave, like a flock of birds that spun to and fro together as if telepathically.
Neil hovered lower and lower until they were forty meters above the humans, some of the guardsmen looking up in confusion and awe, daring to hope.
"Lonney, keep us steady and open fire on the Xenos!" Neil ordered even as Junebug opened the hatch, rope tied around the link to her slender waist. Neil was right behind her.
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