INTERSTELLAR NIGHTMARES - DISTANT TERROR

Chapter 12

   "Alright team, time to earn your paychecks," Mission Control joked. "Bugs incoming, they'll be there soon." Morris let out a cheer. "That's what I'm talking about, baby!" he shouted. I pumped my fist myself, which Fredrick pointed out to Kurt. Kurt just nodded slightly and shrugged.

   "Morris," Kurt called, "get some ammo with me over here, STAT." Morris ran over to the Resupply Pod as Kurt did, and they took the last two shares.

   "Way for our luck to get us two swarms in quick succession," Fredrick groaned. I turned to him with a smile, answering "They won't know what hit them." Fredrick chuckled. "I agree. Let's kick some bug ass!" he shouted while pumping a fist into the air. Morris pumped his pickaxe into the air afterwards with a "For Rock and Stone!"

   "They're here!" Mission Control warned before turning off. I moved my hand as if it wasn't injured in the first place. I hoisted the CRSPR up and got ready. Morris built up his sentry gun and patted it as it sprang to life. The digging sound came and went, and we waited for them to come to us.

   As the bugs came out of the now pulsing darkness, Morris shouted "Let's show them some pain!" Fredrick, the sentry gun, and Morris opened fire on the bugs. I joined in shortly after, as they were very much in range, but Kurt held his fire for now.

   Ash began to waft up from the now disintegrating horde. Soon enough, a praetorion came over the small hill, which awoke the Leadstorm. The whirl began, then the deafening roar shredded the still air and ate into the massive bug. It puffed up and threw up the poison onto me, Fredrick, and Morris before stopping short and shifted and ran away in flames.

   "I'm going after it!" I shouted as I ran forward while avoiding the cone of fire. "Aye, wait!" I heard Kurt yell, "beside you!" I looked back for a moment, but before I could register what he'd said, I was hit really hard and flung back.

   I landed with a thud, but got up quickly, filled with rage as I looked to the bug that hit me. It had a black and red shell that had circular stubs on it's abdomen and a sledgehammer-looking head, plus it had a crest on it's middle half.

   I squeezed the trigger and covered it with fire before I swung my barrel back to the group of glyphids coming in. Morris stumbled to the side as I almost sprayed him. "Aye! Watch it!" he cautioned.

   I continued to melt the wave as best I could, but the burning hammer bug came relatively close. I stopped, yanked out my pickaxe, and plunged it through it's head, killing it immediately.

   As a mix of praetorion gas, ash, and smoke rose from the front we'd created, we heard the announcement! "Good work team, wave's thinning out! Kill off the rest and get on with the mission." I laughed a bit, shouting "Get some!" as the last of the bugs disappeared due to the firepower.

   After shouting out, I felt the effects wearing off and the vibrant colors that reminded me of childhood cool to a slightly grayer version. "Whooh..." I huffed out. Fredrick looked back at me. "You alright?" he asked, which I responded with a thumb up. "Coming down off it, and my chest hurts now," I added.

   Morris reloaded his shotgun and looked to us while laughing. "Hell yeah, boys!" he chuckled after. Kurt walked over and patted Morris's shoulder. "Well, that seemed like you absolutely loved it!" he roared, "But! Are you all ready to start that uplink?"

   I looked to the uplink. Still a box colored in olive drab with blank screens, it looks like that it can be unfolded and activated. I looked back to the others while we're coming over to it. "Let's set it up!" Fredrick patted me on the shoulder.

   We all went to the uplink and stared at it for a moment. We looked to each other after. "Any ideas?" Fredrick asked. "Is there a plug-in port on here?" Morris asked. After a short checking, I found the plug-in under the screen bit. "Right here!" I announced, answered back with a plug into the port and the Terrain Scanner Morris held.

   "Alright... "step one: pull out the longer panels on the front and back of the uplink,"" he read. We went ahead and followed the instructions, pulling the side panels out and down. The screens rose up as it went down, and they came on! They only showed the company logo though, that being Moxim.

   ""Step two: lower the smaller side panels,"" Morris continued. We lowered the sides as well, fully revealing what was underneath. "That's a lot of machinery!" Kurt gawked, "I ain't this geeky!"

   We continued this back and forth for some time uninterrupted. We pulled up the main system, pulled up the ratchet raising system, pushed the rest of the main system up, and set up the satellite. Afterwards, a green bubble formed around us!

   "Uplink set up! Hold tight as we try to establish connection," Mission Control informed, "Stay close to the uplink, we only have one shot at this! The bugs will try to chew it all up, so be sure to protect the uplink while staying close and alive."

   We all got ready for a tussle immediately; I took up my CRSPR, Fredrick made sure he was ready, Morris reloaded his sentry, and Kurt spun the barrels of him Leadstorm. "We ready, boys?" Kurt readied us. We all replied with a Rock and Stone, confirming him suspicion.

   The rumble came afterwards, and bugs shot from the walls en masse! "Get 'em!" Morris croaked. In unison, we all began our defense. The Leadstorm began tearing through the horde as the GK2 assisted. I hosed down any glyphids higher up so they wouldn't have to fire so far up.

   That's when my arm began hurting again. Great, I thought, now? I didn't have much of a choice, so I just continued to cover the team's heads of bugs... though my arm became kind of itchy.

   We heard a rather distinctive roar. I know we all heard it because I saw the rest had their head turning back to the fight or still looking when I looked back. As the rest of the bugs above up became nothing but embers, I turned my attention to where the roar came from.

   It came from the left of the main force pushing us from the right side of the uplink. It crawled over the hill! It was a blue color with six smaller legs and a mess of horns on its face, those three horns flanked with barely-visible eyes. Most striking was its long, tall tail with some sort of fleshy fixture on the end.

   "Over there!" I shouted, combing my mind for a comparison until "Shrimp bug!" came out. I watched Morris take a shot at it, but it didn't lay it out instantly, rather it dazed it! I also heard the Leadstorm go quiet, and with a curse and a click, I looked back to see Kurt holding a grenade.

   "Grenade!" he shouted as he chucked it into the group of glyphids. Most panicked and skittering away, though most were also blown apart by the grenade. "I'll cover you, Kurt!" I shouted as I ran over. Kurt retreated as I began to cover what was still coming with fire.

   With a roar of the shrimp-like creature, I felt Fredrick get yanked from beside me along with a scream. I whipped my head to see what had happened while flushing out the bugs. Through the ash and smoke, I saw Fredrick barely dodge a goring from behind. He yanked his pickaxe out and swung as hard as he could, letting out a yell as it dug straight through the armor and dropped it.

   "Attaboy, Freddy!" Kurt shouted, "Get in here, we're over halfway done!" Fredrick sprinted into the green bubble as one of those red glyphids with orange spots chased after him. It's head was blown right open as it entered the uplink zone from the sentry, and its corpse tumbled back down the hill. Ah, so there's a weakness there! I realized.

   We continued blowing through the wave, me and Kurt switching positions with every overheat or reload. The uplink eventually was finished, getting us a good job from Mission Control and a waning wave.

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