Chromium

15.3

First draft

"Blow it up! Now!" Reyes' scream came through the commlink, but Dia barely heard him.

The sensors detected a power surge but she remained utterly still, her whole attention focused on the monster before her. Although the decontamination chamber's ceiling was high, the lizard was so tall that it had to bend down to go through the door.  Completely hairless and naked - except for the odd metal armor wrapped around its ribcage and pelvis -  it looked a bit like the Shinigami Dia had met in that mine. 

This monster, however, walked on two legs, instead of four like a beast. It was was humanoid, though just barely, and unlike the Shinigami, its bionic eyes, the particle cannon embedded in its left arm and the rest of its implants were pretty standard. Its skin was grayish and scaled and it had four arms, though only two of them looked functional.  The others were devoid of scales, disturbingly humanlike but shriveled as if they'd failed to grow completely. They hang lifelessly by its side as it crossed the ruined door, looking for new prey to hunt. 

Then it froze, tilting its head as it stared at her, seemingly unaware of the chaos surrounding them. It looked confused, unable to determine if she was friend or foe. A second later, when Dia sighted on its center mass and pulled the trigger, the lizard knew the answer to that question.

It growled in pain and anger before pouncing on her, lifting its arm to strike at her. Dia dodged sideways, but it still managed to scratch at her pauldron, its claws cutting through the metal like butter.  She barely registered the nails slicing through her skin. The lizard was out of balance, vulnerable - that was all that mattered to her.

Holding the rifle in a two-hand grip, she pivoted on her toes and blasted it, hitting its lower belly almost point blank. When the lizard shrieked in pain, hurt but still alive, Dia saw a chance to run and took it. She'd almost reached the ruined door when she heard a snapping sound and turned, seeing the lizard long tail whipping toward her chest. Knowing it was too late to dodge, she tried to grab it midair, but the blow was simply too powerful. It slammed her from her feet, then hurled her into the air. Dia flew through the door like a bullet before landing in a tumble.

Groaning in pain, she vaulted to her feet. Then she turned her head to her side and saw the lizard racing through the corridor like a raging tornado. Dia frantically scrambled to her feet, retrieved her gun and switched to full auto. When it was less than ten meters away, she started shooting, spraying the enemy position with fire, blasting bits of the wall to dust.

The lizard ducked, hissing in frustation as the laser battered its body. Then it raised its hand cannon and fired back. The energy burst hit her right in the chest, throwing her to the floor.  She just felt a wave of heat at first, but when the metal of her chest plate started melting like wax, an excruciating scream left her lips. A second later, her body spasmed and a surge of viciousness, driven by pain and despair, filled her.

She went utterly still, apparently unconscious. Even though the pain was almost too much to bear, she forced herself to remain motionless. The lizard was close, just a few steps away. It sniffed the air, its vertical yellow pupils locked on her smoking armor. 

Dia played dead till the last moment and only when its rancid breath fogged up the glass of her helmet, she pulled the trigger. The rifle burped again and again, so quickly that the lizard didn't even have the time to scream, its face erupting in a gout of blood and gore. Then it fell back, its entire body shuddering as it went into convulsion. 

Malicious enjoyment flashed across her eyes when she saw it laying dead. She took a deep breath, attempting to stand up but winced, gasping at the surge of pain flaring through her battered body. Her body was healing very quickly, tender new skin replacing the old one in front of her very eyes, but she wasn't fine. Not even close.

I need help.

"Omen?" She whispered. No one answered. She switched channel and tried again. "Reyes?"

Once again her words echoed empty in her helmet. Her commlink was dead, fried to a crisp. 

Now what? 

There was an army of droids separating her from Reyes, and she had no way to contact the others. She was still thinking about it when systems failures and alarm warnings woke her from her reverie. She tried to move, but the exoskeleton was a complete wreck. She had to leave. Now.

She pushed the eject button and the exoskeleton opened with a hiss. The air was breathable but nausea rose in her throat when the smell of burnt flesh and synthetic polymers hit her nostrils. When she managed the get out of the exoskeleton, she wobbled, then fell backward. Although her body was already healing, her feet were still unsteady, her left arm hanging at an unnatural angle. Even worse, she wasn't alone. She didn't know what had happened, but gunfire had ceased. 

They are coming. She could feel it. With every bone and muscle in her body, she hauled herself up. She was limping toward the door when she saw something out of the corner of her eye, a black shadow stirring against the far wall. A droid. The first of many. 

With trembling fingers she slid her sidearm out of her holster, then she raised it, fighting to keep her aim steady. When a second droid came into view, she opened fire. One droid fell, then another, but still they pushed on. They were short, barely five feet tall, but there were so many of them. The good news was that they weren't firing back for some reason. The bad news was that the pistol's power cell was almost drained.

Out of options, Dia started backing away and kept backing away until she saw a door at the end of the corridor. Then she took out a pulse grenade, pressed the button, arming it, and threw it toward the droids. While the explosion engulfed them, Dia went through the door in a swallowing leap. Then she punched the button and when the door slammed shut, she blasted the control panel. Only then she managed to calm herself.

Unfortunately, the room was dark, almost pitch black. Dia was trying to find a way out when a computer screen flickered to life. 

"I see you received my message, Dia Zephyr."

Dia froze, suddenly short of breath. She recognized that voice. Gibson?

"Now that those little pests are out of the way...let me be the first to welcome you."

The lights overhead came on, revealing an ample room, completely filled with stasis fluid tanks. Dia felt the blood drain from her face when she saw what was stored inside, her eyes going wide with fear at the sight of those twisted creatures. There were hundreds of them. 

The spectacle was enough to sap her sanity. Then Gibson spoke again, and Dia finally understood the true meaning of terror.

"Welcome home, Dia Zephyr"