Humanity Endures

Part 9 - Infiltration | Chapter 5

With even a murmur of discontent sufficient to warrant an agonizing physical punishment, Velan's heavily-fortified room was gripped by silence so extreme that it one could mistake it for the peaceful quiet of space. Only the delicate, uncomfortable shifting of those sitting, or the hushed metallic clang of armored feet hitting the metal floor, was audible; this, the sound of sparking wires in the distance, the rush of stressed breathing, and the maddening noise of blood, slowly dripping from healing wounds. Many of Velan's crew members had not eaten since they had arrived at the Kalithihar system, and many more had not yet had a chance to relieve themselves. This, combined with a lack of sleep and overwhelming grief, was on the cusp of utterly crippling Velan's despairing force — with nearly all MECS having been used up long ago, the question remained open whether or not Velan's force was capable of fighting at all. The marine guards posted at each door in the chamber remained attentive, but doubtless, their morale was astonishingly low as well; if any human tried to make a break for it, Velan could count on no one but himself to stop them. With no fight or immediate threat to dissuade them, many of Velan's crew members, not even removing their armor, did actually find fleeting rest on the bloodied floor, but Velan himself, determined to be vigilant for the sake of his crew, remained always awake — even if this did make some doubt his humanity, for they did not believe that any human could go without MECS and without sleep while remaining so alert. Velan paid this suspicion no heed: he was the one thing keeping these people alive, and he had no intention intend of stopping. His right hand resting on his holstered pistol, Velan became divided on whether or not he would allow his mind to wander — if he did, he risked becoming inattentive; if he didn't...

Velan's thoughts were then dashed by an inhuman shriek and the hurried sound of alien feet scraping the metal floor below; glancing at the source and aiming his drawn sidearm, Velan saw one of his crew members shift their form to a blackened mass within the space of an instant, rushing towards the nearest door. The marine guards posted there raised their weapons, but before they could fire, their guns were sliced in half by a soaring quartet of spontaneously-appearing, razor-sharp alien tendrils; quickly ripping the unarmored door into pieces within a few moments, the alien, being hit by a few sporadic bullets from Velan but remaining mostly unharmed, happily dashed away from the human force, tauntingly screeching down the corridors as it did so. Dentor, grabbing his rifle and waving into the air, exclaimed, "We cannot let another one of those things escape — chase after it! Quickly!"

Charging through the now-open door, Dentor was followed by those nearest him, among whom were Yelazar, and then Illtera, who were in turn, followed by even more people, all of them eager to either put down the escaping alien, or to put down the now-exposed mob of humans. Velan helplessly watched the stream of soldiers continue to flood out of his room; with a group totalling above eighty having already left, and many more preparing to follow them, he realized he had to intervene.

Hastily reloading his sidearm, Velan fired whatever ammunition remained in his pistol into the ceiling, announcing, "Anyone who leaves with Dentor might as well be asking for death!"

The display visibly shocked most who were privy to it, and it stopped the flow of people almost immediately — however, it did not change the fact that all those who had already left, a quarter of Velan's current crew, was in mortal danger.

Velan knew well that if his crew sustained another catastrophic loss, it would likely implode; not only this, but its function would be critically impaired, and the additional infiltrators created by the aliens would be difficult to resist. His eyes darting between the exit and his crew members, Velan, settling on a course of action, turned to his remaining soldiers, whose attention was still affixed on him.

"A quarter of us have decided to thrust themselves into danger — if any in that group are alien, the hallways of this station will be privy to a second bloodbath. Now, come with me, help save them from this undeserving fate, and kill any alien scum you find on the way!" vociferated Velan, unholstering his rifle and dashing towards the door. The two Kalithiharian enforcers, all of Velan's marines, and every officer of any standing — including Iselviah, who Velan expected would be less than enthusiastic about risking her life for the sake of a bunch of crew members who weren't hers — followed behind him. Beyond these, almost everyone within the fortified room, Ralthina included, drew whatever weapons they had and followed their commanders into the claustrophobic hallways beyond; only those too grief-stricken, too wounded, or those who were civilians, remained behind. Velan had no time to try and motivate them to move, for many of them could not help much anyway — the people he had to save were but a few dozen meters in front of him, and they were the prime concern of Velan's desperate mind. In the absence of MECS, adrenaline flooded his system, and though no great clarity that came with it, there was much-needed energy.

Tracking Dentor's position through the man's implants, Velan, able to run much faster than most, pursued the wayward mob relentlessly through the labyrinthine maze of tight corridors that dominated the station, ordering those following him to branch out through to intercept the rogue force at its head, with Terxah being appointed the leader of this ad-hoc formation. Dispatching these orders and sprinting as he did so, Velan soon reached the laggards at the back of Dentor's gang, though few of them heeded his words to stop. Of the soldiers ahead of Velan, as many were utterly convinced of the need to kill that solitary alien, very few followed his orders until Velan explained them in person; for those who still did not follow Velan's commands, a simple, forceful shove, one that sent them into a wall or into the ground, was enough to get them out of the way of those who did. Velan did not cease his pursuit, and as a few minutes of mad dashing passed, he grew ever closer to the head of the formation — the claustrophobic nature of the halls made progress difficult, but not impossible, especially for the swift Velan. Another moment, and some of Velan's followers contacted him via textcomm, informing him that they had arrived at various strategic points that would allow Velan to cut Dentor's mad mob off in time, though the alien Dentor was pursuing had just slipped past them. The alien's escape was unfortunate, yet the fact that Velan and his loyal crew had completely encircled the delirious, disobedient rabble of humans, without them knowing, would allow Velan to stop his people from moving into certain death. In case of a confrontation, the nearby reinforcements would also doubtless prove useful.

With forces loyal to Velan covering most entrances to the hallway Dentor's force was proceeding down, he had mostly removed the possibility of an ambush from without, unless the aliens were lurking in the floors above or below; the most probable thing now was what had been most likely from the beginning: an ambush from within.

Velan, taking a disobedient soldier in front of him by the shoulder and forcibly throwing them against a nearby wall, then rounded a corner, his eyes catching sight of Dentor just a few meters away from him; whereas the hallways had been filled with incomprehensible shouts and the clatter of moving, armored feet, now concerned and confused cries echoed throughout the halls of the station. Dentor and his mob had come face-to-face not with Velan's soldiers just a few dozen meters in front of them, but instead, as Dentor had taken a wrong turn, they were stuck in a dead-end — confusion and fear ripped through the minds of everyone present, and with tensions so high, it seemed as if gauss fire would follow.

This dead-end led only to a small room that was itself entirely closed off from the rest of the station, and had no other exits; if there was to be an ambush, that hallway was the perfect location for it. As a wave of fearful realizations tore through Velan's mind, he began to issue orders to his squads blocking the hallways, instructing them to fall back and provide support to the now-trapped column, but these detachments soon reported back that they had fallen under alien attack — though the aliens were few enough that most of Velan's forces would be able to hold for the moment, none of them could rush to the aid of where the main slaughter was likely to take place.

Shooting a desperate glance towards Dentor and those following him, Velan saw that many of them were confusedly looking for a way out or discussing where else the alien might have gone; Dentor, however, simply turned, dropped his rifle, and grinned at Velan, his face being that of someone who, after much struggle, sees the object of all their plans being moments away from coming to pass. A moment later, his face ceased to exist altogether, being replaced by a writhing black mass dotted with sickly golden eyes, while his arms lashed out and eviscerated any who stood near him: Dentor had been dead for hours, and in his place, an alien infiltrator had plotted the slaughter of everyone else.