Zander grabbed his guns and made it to security in a decent amount of time. Lozat had her people gearing up, issuing shotguns and rifles in equal measure. To a few, she handed off grenades. When she saw Zander, she made sure he got them too.
“You six,” Lozat said, pointing to a group.
Zander approached the six people who were double-checking their weapons. “Which of you is lead for this group?”
“Me, sir,” Meltimu said, smoke wafting up from her mouth.
Zander eyed the fire giant for a moment; she’d been the one Zander had mentioned to Vorsa a few days back. “Got command that fast?”
“We’ve opted to rotate lead until we’ve all held the duty at least for a month,” Conna, the gremlin of the group, said.
“This way we all know the burdens of command,” Pawnlu added, one hoof stamping the deck as he shifted his equine body.
“I’m all for everyone knowing the job,” Zander said. “It should stop the stupid shit from happening. You’ll respect the work, and they should respect you for having done it too.” He gave the gnome a grin. “Tolbert, I see you’re the official grenade carrier.”
“We remember his throw from training,” Shelia smirked. “If he can get you, he can easily get the bugs.”
“And none of us wanted to carry them,” Blocat added, his snake hair swaying when he spoke.
“You six are my squad for this,” Zander said. “Are you ready to face Entoma for real?”
“No,” Tolbert said honestly, “I’m terrified, sir.”
“Are you going to lock up on me?”
“No, sir. But I’m not exactly ready for it either.”
“Fair enough, Tolbert. I’m not looking forward to it either, even if I’ve already done it once. We stick close, clear rooms the way we need to, and cover each other. If it starts to look bad, I’ll ask Dreams to pull us back to regroup. We’re not cut off and isolated.”
The brief speech seemed to help settle the group. The others who had heard him nodded as they, too, calmed.
“Double-check your weapons and your suit,” Zander said. “Have the person next to you check your suit as well.”
The moment his squad began to do that, he thought a question at Maker. Maker, are their suits different?
Yes. They’re the ones who would normally face adversaries, so I had their suits reinforced to help. Not sure how they’ll hold up to Entoma, but they should have a better chance than you do, Maker replied silently.
Copy that. Can we upgrade all the suits on the ship? Sure, most will never need it, but it’ll stop a minor issue from becoming a major one if someone nicks their suit at the wrong time.
I’ll look at it when we get a moment. It wouldn’t happen during this mission.
Understood.
“Zander, are you ready?” Lozat asked.
Zander checked his people who had lined up, then he turned back to Lozat. “We’re good.”
Vorsa gave his clear for being ready a moment later. All eighteen security personnel, plus Vorsa and Zander, were ready to go. Lozat gave the order to move out, leading the way. Zander had his group take the rear. He knew that the ships had airlocks; they just weren’t used often. Why use them when the ships could manage portals to send you to your destination? But they were there for those moments when the ships experienced technical difficulties or power-generation issues.
As they marched, Zander opened up comms to his three pilot wives. “Ladies, we’re off to fight. How goes the point defense emplacements?”
“I’m on station already, you should move in just past me,” Crish said.
“Mine just finished,” Kayo said. “I’m getting used to the controls. Vorsa is leading his group to my location.”
“My gun is still being manufactured and set,” Zar said. “I’ll be covering for Lozat. Maker warned us it’ll possibly be hectic and chaotic to start with. After they build this station, Defense will be building another set behind them, in case you’re all driven back. Each of them is set up with a self-destruct, too, so if you all pull back, we can blow up the emplacements to kill more Entoma.”
“Might be for the best,” Zander said. “Just do your best. I’ll be in touch when I can.”
After the ladies said goodbye, Zander turned his attention to Rasisar.
“Rasisar, are you all suited up?”
“My squad and Vizinna’s are in the mecha and ready to go. I’ve dropped back to an infantry. Borrowed from your unit,” Rasisar said. “As I understand it, we’ll be portaled to the blown-out end of Origin and are to advance and clear nests.”
“That’s right. You should find young, maybe a couple of guardians, and if you piss them off enough, you might pull the Entoma off us to go back and defend their eggs.”
“We’ll be ready for it, and dare I say, far better suited to fight them.”
“Not arguing that,” Zander laughed. “Good hunting and mind the close quarters. Remember, they can and will go through the ceiling and floor.”
“Copy that, Zander.”
“Sir, you were checking in with the others?” Meltimu asked.
“Yeah,” Zander said, having been speaking out loud for his half of the conversations. “Gun emplacements are in with my wives on them to help cover us if we have to fall back. Rasisar is leading two fingers over to start clearing from the back forward.”
“Lozat did tell us about the general plan, but are you going to be in contact during the entire mission?”
“Off and on. I’ll warn them if we’re pulling back so they’re ready to help cover us. Also, Rasisar will keep me updated on what he finds.”
“Feels like a ship-wide effort this way,” Tolbert said. “Before, it kind of felt like it was all on us.”
“Dreams’ crew moves as one,” Zander said. “We’re not as separated from each other as most other ship crews are.”
“Never thought I’d see a pilot acting as security and going to face a battle outside a mecha,” Pawnlu said. “Most of my race would be shocked to hear it.”
“You’re not the only one,” Conna snickered. “I mean, I read the reports, and even trained some with you, Zander, but it’s different today.”
“Because this isn’t training,” Blocat said. “The fact is, if we mess up here, we or our friends could die. Including you.”
“I’m not dying here,” Zander snorted. “Worst that happens is I somehow get knocked off the ship, and Dreams has to find and portal me back from the emptiness of space. No bug is going to kill me, not when I’m awake, armed, and ready to stomp them into paste.”
“You faced Entoma on foot your first moment after being Shifted,” Tolbert said. “I’ve read the report multiple times. You were found on top of the ship, taken as salvage. Acidic burns around your waist, but standing tall as you faced the mecha that placed the beacon.”
“Lost my friends and lover before that,” Zander said. “Armed with guns like these, we were on the sands and surprised by the worms we faced. We tried to get to safety, and Selda almost made it with me. Her sacrifice to push me, saved me and let me get up on the ship. Devin was killed by a coward who was trying to use him as bait to flee. If Devin hadn’t been killed by Skippy, he might have survived, too. If he’d been with Selda and me…I think we’d all have made it. That’s what drives me now, my vow to slaughter all of the Entoma in return for killing them. And today we do it the old-fashioned way, on foot.” He looked at his squad as they approached the airlock. “Just stay sharp and do what we’ve trained you to do. The only enemy we face are the Entoma, so if it’s not bipedal…or a centaur…or a lamia…” He paused, then snorted, as he had to adapt what he’d been going to say because of the different aliens with him. “If it scuttles, kill it.”
Lozat got to the airlock and waited for Dreams to open the hatch. It could open for one person or as wide as a teen-feet across. Ping got them into position, and Dreams and Origin connected the docking pieces to ensure a firm connection. Once they were checked, Dreams opened her doors. As Lozat led the way, Origin opened his doors too.
Everyone slowed when they entered Origin, but they moved away to allow the others to follow. Zander understood when he led his squad onto Origin. The interior of the ship looked vaguely similar to Dreams, but the lighting had a bluish cast to it, and the air was a bit higher in oxygen content.
“I can alter my environment to match Dreams, one moment,” Origin said.
“Hold that,” Zander said. “Leave it as it is. It’ll remind us not to be complacent.”
“Understood, Pilot Greaves.”
“Zander, normally, but for this, Badger,” Zander said. “Lozat, how are we dividing up the defense?”
“Origin, Defense, may we please have a map of the known hostile areas?” Lozat asked.
A section of a wall became a screen, showing a cutaway diagram of Origin. The rear of the ship was red, then yellow, before finally green. A small flashing dot indicated their location, which was a good mile back from the yellow.
“The emplacements are here,” Defense said. “They are built and ready. We’re making fallback locations in these spots,” more dots began appearing. “The mecha are coming in at the very back, and we don’t know if it will help pull back the more forward Entoma.”
“What Entoma have you seen?” Lozat asked.
“These are the ones we can verify,” Defense said, showing technical files for a beetle and a worm.
“No cameras to show them?” Zander asked.
“No. We had no visual recording devices,” Origin said.
“Pity, but okay. How do you know it’s them?”
“Their identification scans,” Tester said. “All Entoma types have a specific identifier.”
Zander inhaled slowly. “You’ve scanned the entire ship?”
“The parts being attacked…Scanning now.”
“Thank you. I assume it doesn’t include parts that have been ravaged?”
“That is correct, our scanners were attacked first.”
Zander looked pensive for a moment. “How long after the incident did you scan for Entoma the first time?”
Silence for a few heartbeats before Defense spoke. “It was after we realized they were here and eating their way forward.”
“So there might be other Entoma that are behind the two types you know of?”
“Yes.”
“Lovely,” Zander sighed. “Can our guns defeat the shells on the beetles?”
“I can confirm,” Maker said. “According to their files and the penetration power of the weapons.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Zander exhaled. “Sorry, Lozat.”
“Your expertise is appreciated,” Lozat said. “Okay, we can kill the bugs, and Defense was producing more ammunition, correct?”
“That is correct,” Defense said.
“Okay then, I’ll be taking the top floors,” Lozat said. “Vorsa, the bottom floors. Zander, the middle floors. Let’s go kill some Entoma and make history, people.”
“I will show you the way with these lights,” Defense said, lighting up three different colors. “Lozat, please follow green. Vorsa, red. Badger, yellow.”
“Copy that,” Zander said. “Game faces on, people. We’re in hostile territory from here until we’re sure we’re clear.”