5. A Sliver Of Hope

A wave of tall brutish-looking humanoids ran through the docking tunnel. They looked almost human, almost, save for their abnormal body size and skin color.

They ran through the hallway killing the stupefied soldiers.

They were stupefied, not that none had ever seen the aliens, at least none were this bulky. The new aliens pushed through the barricades of the soldiers like it were some lego construction.

The bullets could only do as much as scraping their skins, adding panic to the already pale faced soldiers.

"Who said aliens couldn't have their own elites," Rina grumbled under her breathe.

"Talking won't help us out of here," Andrea managed to say in a somehow spirited voice.

"As I have said earlier, we need to blow up that docking tunnel to break the anchorage." She added.

"So.." Commander Maxwell started. "Where's the nukes? A C-54 would work just fine," he asked Andrea.

Andrea gave him a solemn look, then cocked her head at a wall which opened to reveal a weapon panel after Midnight confirmed the orders.

The white wall had split in half horizontally, the bottom part moving outwards to reveal a stall like shelf filled with all types of guns and other weapons.

The bottom part split again in half leaving a walkway to the tiny compartment, which looked tiny because of how full it was.

Commander Maxwell's eyes went wide open in shock after seeing the dubious collection.

"Are you planning a rebellion or something?" He asked slack jawed.

"PFFT! Are you drooling on weapons?!" Rona teased him. "Hahaha! You gotta see your face when you pout,, hahaha!"

Strangely, Rina's senseless jokes managed to lighten the mood. With imminent danger at their doorstep, and little to no hope escape, everybody was obviously tensed.

"Take those Commander," Andrea pointed at a large tray with circular discs.

"Are those the Star Discs you were working on with me the other week?!" Rina suddenly shrieked when she saw the commander holding one.

She then pouted as her excitement died out suddenly then stood hands-akimbo, and stared daggers at her friend.

"Oowh.." Andrea cooed at her childish behavior. "Don't give me puppy eyes,, I couldn't wait for you just to install timers? Duh!"

"We were supposed to test it together?!" Rina blinked her eyes rapidly, pretending to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry but our dear commander has that pleasure now,, unless.." Andrea then gave the commander a knowing look.

"Bah!" Rina scoffed. "I'm not good at tests anyway," she added which got everyone laughing.

"Uuggh, guys?" A tiny voice called out. "Are we forgetting something here?" Rina's assistant gave her a meaningful glare.

"..." And uncomfortable silence settled in the room.

"I.. I had better get going," Commander Maxwell broke the silence and walked out of the room.

The door shut with a tiny click and the remaining people walked to the screen to observe.

A bulky figure was running to the Command room when it suddenly stopped, a bloody hole in its forehead.

The Commander's relatively huge figure stepped over the corpse and went the opposite way.

Andrea ordered Midnight to switch to another camera and they saw the commander engaged in hand combat with another Naga warrior, only this time it was an elite.

The alien threw a fully packed uppercut which would clearly knock the wind out of their friend.

Com. Maxwell went in to deflect the punch with his braced arm but the heavy pack full of explosives slowed him down. The punch missed his face due to his deflection, but the heel of the giant arm got him square in the face.

The force threw his head back and he lost his balance, stumbling for a second. The baldheaded alien, clearly full of pride, decided to let him recover. A grave mistake.

He took out a shotgun and pumped it. The alien, aware that bullets only tickled him, let the commander take the shot.

BANG!

SPLAT!

The alien's face blew with a satisfying splash on the wall. Com. Maxwell looked at the camera with a grateful smile.

"Told you it'd work," Andrea smiled at Rina. "I mase sure to enhance it pressure and reduce the recoil too."

"Hhmp!" Rina turned away from her. "This saber is much more better, it is certainly better for stealth," she added while waving around a thing Japanese-type blade.

"Hihihi," Andrea giggled behind her. "I've told you it's a type of a sword, not a saber. And you should stop waving it around people, that is ultra sharp," she warned her.

"Whatever, I'm still keeping it." Rina said while sheathing the blade. "I wish we knew what force held the laser swords of these aliens.."

Andrea sighed silently.

"You always teased me for liking swords when we were kids and look at you now wishing for a laser one," Andrea playfully pinched her.

"Hey! What's that for?!" Rina squealed and acted as if drawing her sword.

BOOOM!!

A shockwave nearly threw Rina off balance and Midnight gave them bad news.

"The commander reached destination but the bombs didn't destroy the mainframe of the tunnel," the AI paused to let the message sink in.

"And the commander?" Andrea asked With fear gripping her.

"I'm sorry but he didn't make it," Midnight said in its usual tone. The group felt crestfallen at the news. They savoured him as an ally and yet he was gone.

They gave a moment of silence in his memory. A good man now remaining a memory.

"We have no time captain, we must commence plan C now," the AI's voice came in breaking the silence.

"Are there any enemies onboard?" Andrea asked in a low voice. Although she only met the Commander a few hours ago, she felt bad at his death.

"There are still four of the elites, Captain. " Midnight answered.

Out of curiosity, Andrea told Midnight to play the scene of the explosion.

Com. Maxwell had killed the elite Naga with the shotgun then two more Nagas on the way. He arrived at the tunnel and armed it with the bombs well enough before moving some distance away.

After he blew up the bombs, he went back to check on the tunnel but found most of its foundation intact, the metallic framework completely unharmed.

As he stood there, maybe contemplating what to do next, the space besides him started distorting.

He was too deep in thought to notice this abnormality. Everyone in the room felt a sense of forbidding when a purple skinned naga dropped out of nowhere and suddenly struck the commander.

The girls squinted their eyes, resisting the urge to puke when the alien stepped on the commander, turning him into a fine mash of flesh on the floor.

Andrea was the first to recover from shock, having already experienced worse scenes. She quickly ran to the weapon compartment and took out two swords similar to Rina's, only shorter.

The rest arose too after seeing her run.

With the commander gone, and nearly all soldiers killed, only five of them remained in the room.

The problem was that they were all engineers, not soldiers. Not to mention that three were women. Their survival was now questionable.

"All of you, come pick a weapon," Andrea assumed the leading position.

"Captain, the last soldier on the second level is down," Midnight announced. "I suggest we activate engines now to be ready for take off."

"Do it, Midnight," Andrea agreed. She was now putting on a suit armor almost similar to the soldiers', only that hers had rocket thrusters and of different quality.

"Midnight, take us down now," Andrea commanded. The floor of the command room started moving downwards. They had to go down to the lowest floor and this was the safest way by all means.

She was now helping Rina's assistant with her armor while Rina helped a male engineer.

Suddenly, Rina shoved the man away and jumped away.

Right where they had been less than a second ago, a sharp blade ran across the air with a slashing sound.

A second later, a purple skinned naga appeared with the air swirling around the place it stood. When it settled, it threw the huge sword at the other male mechanic, who only stood in fear, and punched the one Rina pushed away.

All this happened almost at once, a testimony of the alien's superior speed.

The two men didn't even get a chance to use the weapons they were given before facing their death.

Satisfied with its gruesome job, the large virus turned around to face the scared females when it suddenly saw the ground approach its face, it was it the one falling?

It took the alien a second to r establish what was happening after seeing it own body fall like a sack full of stones.

When the alien was "admiring" its work, Andrea took the chance and slipped up behind it unnoticed.

She then mustered her energy into a single swing and took off the brute's head. She had learned some sword skills before and combined with the Aluthium metal sword, it was a clean chop.

Rina screamed when she saw the head and jumped on Andrea's back.

"Hurry up Midnight!" Andrea shouted.

The speed of their descend increased and around half a minute they had stopped at another room.

The room must have been hidden since there was no sign of fighting despite being on the same floor as the docking tunnel.

Not wasting any time, Andrea ran to a door across the room and opened it. Rina and her now shaky assistant ran in after her.

The circular room was painted green all over and at the center was a raised table-like platform with a controller panel. Besides the platform was a lever.

At the further end of the room was five pod like machines. Rina and her assistant looked puzzled on seeing them but Rina's face lit up in realization a moment later.

Andrea did not see this, however, already busy operating the room with Midnight's help. While she was still talking to Midnight, something hit her hard on the head and threw her at the wall.

The only sound she heard before passing out briefly was Rina's voice shouting her name.