Battle the Zzuragg part 2
#6 of gift work
Battle of the Zzuragg
Chapter 2
By
Dustin Feyder
Commissioned by
Rogueybear
Shape chargers are set, the countdown starts, gunshots are fired, the ground becomes unstable. In the blink of an eye a saga of unlikely string together that would make any Goldberg machan proud; shape chargers open an air pocket under the mining ship, the ship starts to tip, swamp gas sends a blast of rock into the air, the weekend hall of the mining ship foulds in on itself and by grace of whatever powers govern the universe the S.M. team finds themselves safely inside the ship, covered head to toe in slime, but safe nevertheless.
Dawg flings some slime from his facemask then looks around the team "Who was shooting at what?!"
Huston calls over as he finds his feet "Sorry 'bout that chaps. Artillery malfunction."
Dawg walks over and looks the winter fox up and down "do we have the situation under control?"
"Seems to be working fine now."
Dawg points at his own eyes then at Huston, he points back and forth several times as he walks around picking people up and dusting them off. Everyone understands the point Dawg is getting across, Dawg doesn't believe that was a malfunction.
Huston picks up the sand coyote that fell alongside him, she has a narrow build but a shaper tongue, she could easily be mistaken for one of the boys if not for the sent of honey that lingers in the air around her, she is the time 'greaser' everyone knows if something brakes call her. People call the Coyote Prvt. Chin but that is because no-one seems to be able to pronounce her real name Churnebogge. Chin looks up at Huston "thanks for covering for me."
Huston looks her up and down with a needing smile "what did you see out there anyway?"
Chin grabs Huston's helmet with both hands to lock their gazes "eyes here." She jokes with him.
"as if it even registers with me that you might be a sexual animal." Huston teases.
"I'm already a two time looser, I bungle another job and the fed is going to mail me home in the cargo hold. There was something out there crawling in the mud, I saw it reach up and I..." Huston holds a hand up to silence Chin
"I get it." Huston looks over to Kauri "Talking about things that are bungled." He yells out "Hay Hyena. I would love to know, is it true that on your island the women have bigger ballocks then the men?"
Kauri grunts lowering his riffle ready to scrap with Huston, Dawg steps in front of him grabbing one of Kauri arms "don't take the bait..." Dawg leans in close whispering "is it true?" Kauri offers an uncomfortable nod.
Maize takes to the head of the unit "what is our next target."
"Deck by deck sweep. We search each floor: ascertain the fate of the crew, recover any usable data and assets." Dawg explains. The party starts walking. The ship around them is falling apart. Wires hang low, large hunks of meatal stick out of the walls.
Crawling up through floors air and water pipes penetrate though the ground, frozen water sprays into the air. Maize grunts as she pulls herself up to the next deck, she drops into a crouch and sweeps her rifle side to side searching the floor, she calls out the 'clear' sign then starts helping the rest of the team up. For two floors, so far there has been nothing but twisted metal.
At last something comes into sight, but not what the team had hoped for. What would seem to be a dining room, the room is locked down, frost has covered, beyond the glass something moves. Dawg, Maize, Dover, Hutson, Chin and Kauri gather in tight to look past the frosted glass. A beast twice the size of any dog, long sharp narrow limps, six arms, four lags.
Chin pulls her sidearm and takes aim "what the hell is that thing?"
Dawg explain "that is what took my eye." Chin cocks her side arm, she takes aim, Dawg holds a fist up in the 'hold position' "Kauri, check radar, narrow the stream, how many bugs are in that room?"
Kauri looks down at his wrist mounted computer "six."
Dawg nods knowingly "they are in guard formation, one stands up to draw in pray, five to ten more lay down waiting to jump. We just keep walking. Save our ammo till we need it."
Huston complains "I'm starting to get the feeling that a Drifter Island's mining ship isn't worth this kind of trouble."
The crawl through the ship takes them next to the crew quarters and the first signs of the staffing, another hyena, this one female, middle aged. She seems to have discarded her armor and is stumbling around slouched over at an odd looking angle.
Kauri runs over to offer aid. If only he had moved slower, if only he had been paying closer attention, he may have noticed a great deal more things out of place. As the hyena girl lifts her head some things are clearly missing; her mouth is wired shut by what looks like spider hairs, from her cheekbones hooked nail emerge like the bolts on a not quite finished marionet, as she tacks notice of a lifeform approaching her joints swing loosely on their hinges unrestrained by muscular physics, her eyes are filed with teeth lick fingers sticking out of an inverted bowling ball.
Kauri is young and filled with the will to do good, not yet jaded by age and the weight of reality. Dawg shouts at Kauri, Kauri can't heir him, or maybe doesn't want to. The monster that was no doubt a chipper girl not so long ago reaches its arms out, mandibles piercing its skin pointing the puppet at its target.
Kauri has never seen anything like this, no author or artiest he has ever rub shoulders with could have dreamed up such a horror. Kauri gasp shuffle-stepping back, his arms come up to hide himself from the reality bending monster looming into him. The sounds of buzzing, clicking, humming and chirping silences all other sounds around Kauri.
The mouth of the puppet rips open, the hallow crevasse hidden by its jaw slowly fills with a par of pincers and two inner mouths with crisscrossing fangs. Dawg grabs Kauri from behind with one arm and with mantic strength Dawg throws Kauri away from the monster.
The beast body stretches and morphs in unhuman ways as it ties itself around Dawg, the four-pointed mouth of the monster clasp partly around Dawgs torso singing its fangs into his armor. Dawg howls pulling his sidearm from his hip, with a snarl he mounts his sidearm in fanning position and starts franticly firing on the monstrosity.
The magnet gun fires pea sized steel bulbs that forge a vacuum cone in the air tare sections of the monster away. But braking of the beast body sections seems to do little to stop the monsters biting into him as the broken parts grow crab like legs and start hopping around like flees.
Chin calls out "Company fire!" fallowing the instruction the team forms ranks four crouching two standing and they fill the hallway with a spray of fire. Kauri is still on the ground hiding his head under his arms. He tries to shout up to the group, he tries to remind them that Dawg is still somewhere in the mess of jumping monster but his voice is lost under the echoing of bullets bouncing of steel walls.
Pounding on the walls is barely audible till Maize notices the man alongside her stop firing. All to late they recall Dawgs warning '1 stands, 6 crouch' the hall behind them has filled with more monsters. The large ones, the six armed four lagged mantes like monstrosities they had only seen under glass before.
***
As the fighting starts Elion and Cormen jump back and forth between computer monitors observing the battle and starting to offer warnings and advice clueing in the team as to what the cameras can see that they might not have in the heat of battle. Cameras one five and seven black out, the interments in the command vehicle detect a spike in radiation levels then all the cameras fade out. For a few short moment there is only audio, shouting and gunfire, then that fades away too.
Elion tries to keep talking to the team "All units 'Rads' have jump above maximum safe levels. We are encountering destructive interferences. Repeat All units 'Rads' have jump above maximum safe levels. We are encountering destructive interferences. It is imperative that you that you fall back to a previse deck in ranks, two and two. Offer short controlled burst of suppression fire..."
Cormen takes off her headset "save it. We aren't getting though."
Elion looks to her partner "what the hell happened in there. I have studied Zzuragg battle formations and..."
Cormen looks over "that wasn't one of them. Maybe that just means we haven't survived to report this sort of attack yet." Elion takes off her headset and sighs. Cormen get out of the opperater set and walks back up to the front of the ship. "this mission is a wash."
Elion yells out "give them a minute. Our boys might still pull though."
Dover's camera comes back on line first "Base... Base... can you hear me!?"
Elion quickly put her headset back on "Dover. Copy that, we can hear you. I need a status report."
"report? We just got the shit kicked out of us."
"yours is the only readout that has reboot so fair, what is your position."
"E-112 I think. Our team has been separated. I have: Maize, Chin, Huston, and Kauri with me. I don't know what happened to Dawg and the other two."