War Core 4, Chapter 11.

Chapter 11.

Hssim took off at a slow jog, not because he was worried about tiring everyone out, but more because he was looking for the best route through the throng of infected. The things were spread thick around the station offices. As they moved closer, the signs of combat were seen, divots burned by laser weapons, bloodstains, and various broken furniture and displays. A small restaurant nearby was the most damaged, with even parts of the walls torn apart, and with a higher concentration of monsters lurking nearby.

“Hugh, cut a path to the lift with your chemical-based kinetic energy weapon,” Hssim ordered.

Hugh took the lead, bringing his rifle up and placing the reticle on his first target. The recoil on the weapon was minimal and he could keep accurate shots firing every half second or so. Each of the infected monsters took multiple hits to bring down, but his drone was also in the fight, firing its laser at the nearest threat. Too bad its rate of fire wasn’t the same as Hugh’s, or he would have a much easier time of things.

They could now see the sign for the central lift, across the open walkway and past the damaged restaurant and the security office that flanked it. Howls filled the area as the infected reacted to the assault. With the numbers in the immediate area, the screeching drowned out the sound of his M4. In the distance, answering cries were heard, far more than Hugh would have expected.

Swapping mags gave just enough of a delay to allow the swarm to close in. Their group had slowed to a fast walk, and Hugh switched the selector lever from semi-auto to burst, they needed to mow through the horde, or they were going to be overwhelmed. He could worry about conserving ammo when there wasn’t a swarm of monsters trying to transform him into a tech nightmare. Every pull of the trigger sent three rounds into the crowd of monsters charging at them. And he dropped nearly a dozen before the bolt locked back on the empty mag.

“Hold off the ones behind us, we’ll break through what’s left,” Hssim ordered. It still looked like a huge number of infected between them and the lift, but the swarm was noticeably thinner than it had been before Hugh had done his work.

He didn’t time to worry about the other three when he looked back and saw what was coming for them. It was a wall of infected, drawn from the cries of those nearby. Whether it was the high population density nearby when the infection started, or if this was some kind of hive for the monsters, Hugh didn’t know. Whatever the reason, there were far more than he had the ammo to kill. That wouldn’t stop him from trying, and he shouldered his weapon and went to work.

He emptied two more magazines as the pushed forward. Inserting his fifth mag, Hugh noted with concern that there was only one more left in his plate carrier. He had a few loose rounds in his pack, but these things weren’t going to take a timeout to let him reload. It would be down to his pistol after that, and while the .45 caliber round the pistol fired had better stopping power than the rifle up close, each mag only held seven rounds. He didn’t favor his chances against the horde with just his knife.

“Hurry up Hugh!” Dalven shouted. Hugh looked over his shoulder to see the others cut their way past the last of the monsters between them and the path to the lift. He had been too slow, focusing on his shooting and letting the gap between him and the others open. As the rest of the group pushed forward, monsters moved into the gap, separating Hugh from his party. He couldn’t just blast his way through, there was too much of a risk of friendly fire.

Making a quick decision, he burned through his magazine, opening a path to the nearest building, the security office. Several monsters were in the doorway of the office, but the place had been designed without too many weak points. The clear windows over the front of the building must have been reinforced, as none were shattered and the few stray rounds that Hugh sent into it didn’t shatter the material and only left a small mark where they hit.

It was likely a fatal decision to hole himself up somewhere, but the others were now out of sight, and there was no way he was going to reach them before they made it to the lift. He had no delusions that they would hold the lift open for him, the group had a mission to accomplish and once they reached that safe room, the door would be closed to keep out the horde of infected. All Hugh could do now was fight for a few more minutes of life.

The drone leaped forward, using its legs to spear the nearest infected in the doorway. Hugh emptied the last of his magazine to clear out the others near the security office. Changing to his last rifle mag as he entered the office, Hugh began to seek out targets. The inside of the station was rather small, with only a small bench along the front windows and a desk to deal with visitors. A reinforced hatchway led deeper into the security office, a blinking red light showed that it was locked down tight. He tried it anyway, confirming the door was locked as he blasted the two infected inside.

With all the commotion, most of the infected inside had made it out to join the horde, but the two inside had already been damaged pretty badly and unable to move quickly. Noticing the door control over the front entrance was flashing green, Hugh hit the button to seal it, but the door only slid a short way before bumping into one of the bodies. Hugh fired one handed out the door, holding back the nearest attackers as he used his other hand to drag out the dead infected in the doorway. His drone charged bravely forward, engaging the nearest enemies and buying Hugh the time he needed.

As soon as the body was clear, Hugh hit the button, sealing the door. Immediately, the infected started to bang on the door and the outside windows, driven into a frenzy at their prey being so close by, yet unreachable. Shaking from adrenaline and fear, Hugh took a few deep breaths and tried to steady himself. First things first, he fished out the loose rounds from his pack and topped off the magazine in his rifle. He had been down to his last three rounds and by the time he was done thumbing the rounds into the mag, he only had eighteen.

More of the infected rushed past the window, pursuing the others, but the group outside his refuge continued to grow as well. Reinforced or not, the material that made up the front window wouldn’t hold forever, not with many of the infected having metal-covered limbs to assault it with. Checking for wounds, Hugh was glad to see that despite being scuffed up a bit, nothing had penetrated his armor, and no metallic infections were growing inside him.

“Not my drone,” Hugh whined to himself as he realized the drone had sacrificed itself to buy him the time needed. He felt a little guilty that he had shut the door on the brave little guy, but there had been no other choice. Dreams of upgrading it into an engine of destruction were shattered, and he doubted the GCA would give him a second shot at buying one if he survived.

Survival was the next order of business, and he looked around the cramped office to see what might be useful. Behind the front desk, he could see the remains of an alien that had been so torn to pieces, the infection didn’t have enough of a body left to take hold, so the remains were free of infection. In the alien’s hand was a bent pistol of some type. It was likely the weapon that the alien had likely used to cripple the two infected that Hugh had dispatched inside the office. A quick check proved the pistol was not only out of power, but also inoperable.

A small console at the desk had the blood-smeared handprint of the alien on it. He had likely been working on it when the infected charged in. Hugh tapped at the tablet-like screen, surprised to see it was operational and still had power. Strange characters appeared, and it took his core a few seconds to translate the language into something he could read.

It was like an emergency 911 line for this ring of the station, and it was full of reports of the various attacks as the infection had run its course. Hugh was engrossed in the reports, again wondering if this was some elaborate backstory the GCA had created for the trial, but if it was, it must have been based on some past event. It was too real, and reading the cries for help that never got answered was heartbreaking. It appears the infection started in one of the labs that operated aboard the station.

Whoever had been manning this security station had been alone, and unable to do anything about the attack once it had spread to this level. Scrolling to the bottom, Hugh could see the initial station warning that went out, including video captured from the lab where the infection had begun. Curious, Hugh activated the video link. The quality of the video was high, and there were multiple angles for him to sort through.

Nothing looked too out of place at first. There were several aliens of various species in sealed environmental suits working on some bodies laid out on a pair of gurneys. One body looked like someone had turned an orc from one of those fantasy movies into a cyborg. It had a hole burned through its chest as if it had been hit by a heavy weapon. Given how tough the cyborg looked, it probably needed a cannon to bring it down.

The scientists were discussing their experiments, and most of what they said went way over Hugh’s head, but he could pick up on the gist of what was happening. Apparently, the cybernetic orc was exactly that, and the word for the species even translated as an orc to Hugh. Were there actual orcs out there somewhere in the galaxy? This station was reportedly spat out from a rift, so it appeared that there was another dimension, universe, or timeline where orcs were a thing. Not only were they a thing, but they were also cyborgs.

The conversation turned to a recent battle, the one where the station was partially destroyed. It appeared the cybernetic orcs were part of the force that invaded the station, but he heard conflicting information on that. From what he could glean, the orcs were aboard and part of a faction that broke free from the station with a warship that tore the place up pretty badly. It had happened a while back, but recently enough that the scientists were still shaken up by the events.

They were trying to replicate the ability to create cybernetic warriors to help defend against another attack. The technology used to create the cybernetic enhancements on the orc was something way beyond their skill, but to try and replicate it, they merged nanobots with biological viruses to create a similar machine. The second gurney held the test subject for their newest attempt. From the squirming look of terror in the alien’s eyes, it appeared the subject for this experiment was not a willing one.

An IV bag with a strange black liquid was hooked to the subject’s arm. Nothing happened at first, just the room full of scientists taking readings and talking amongst themselves. After several minutes, the man began to shriek in pain as metallic patches began to spread across his body. The process was similar to what had happened to Dalven, but much faster. With inhuman strength, the man tore free of his restraints and started attacking the scientists.

The scene was familiar enough, metallic protrusions on the subject’s body speared into the scientists, and after only a few seconds, all five of the scientists were down, each of them growing strange metallic patches on their exposed flesh. Guards responded, blasting the subject with laser rifles, burning him to a crisp as a team of medics tried to attend to the scientists. The scientists then attacked the medics and the guards, spreading the infection.

From that point, it was about what Hugh had expected, and the infected spread quickly. The station’s automated systems locked the place down, preventing any ship from leaving once they realized what had happened. Guards and automated combat drones tried to fight off the infected, but by the time they had gotten organized, things had progressed too far. Now, the station was a graveyard, and Hugh’s team was likely the only uninfected beings still aboard. The last entry was a notification from the automated system.

A class 10 biohazard has been detected. Automated safety protocols have been enacted. Warning buoys have been launched and the station will now enact self-destruct protocols. The power core has been set to overload.

Warning!! A power core anomaly has been detected, suspected PIXI infestation. Self-destruct aborted.

Override.

Self-destruct sequence will continue, no uninfected lifeforms remain aboard.

The power core anomaly has prevented the station’s destruction and systems detect that a dimensional rift has occurred. Star mapping indicates that the station’s current location hasn’t changed, but there is a variance in the recorded star positioning that is outside of normal parameters.

Live operator input is required to further investigate. Station will enter power conservation mode. The quarantine will remain in effect.

Sarton Station will remain a class 10 biohazard.