The Boneyard Marauders.

The exercise continued without hussle, Gustavus and his henchman was monitoring all that went on to the best of their capabilities. So, yeah, they were basically strolling the hive, on watch. And suddenly they heard it: from the many labyrinths that lead to their current location, from somewhere in the depths, a regular, dull knocking rings out - previously, it sounded distant and mellow, like a whisper, perhaps an echo.

Dave, the henchman heard it of course, but made nothing of it, but Gustavus was an elite and wouldn't brush off so easily. He pause his advancement, and concentrated for finer hearing, and then, ever so closely, and louder, the sound grew...

Suddenly his ears were struck by abhorrent, boneyard howl, and in a distance, as though eyes were liars, he couldn't believe what he saw through them... And then, as though coaxed by the foreboding pressure, cries of horror erupted all around.

The ability to perceive the incoming horror from the mean of the hive was just due to the leaders conditioned senses. However, those close to the abominable beings that just emerged from the depths, witnessed the fullness of hell layed bear. Then, there was complete anarchy!

Gustavus executed a quick parade turn toward a subdued Dave. Without hesitation, he planted a full fist into Dave's belly, yanking him out his daze.

"Aargghh, f*ck!" Cussed Dave, who was humped over and squinting.

"Quick Dave, swallow your pain and order a retreat right this minute. " Gustavus ordered.

"Attention!! All units do u copy? Abandon the mission, retreat and regroup, I repeat, retreat and regroup! " he complied and transmitted.

"Roger!" Transmission successful...

"Roger!" Transmission successful...

"Ro-- holy mother of God, everyone out no-- Argghh." Transmission lost...

"Sir we lost team Beta!"

Gustavus squinted in distress. In less than couldn't tell, all the units had regressed to the mean of the hive.

And the most senior among them, Gustavus, shouts at the top of his lungs, "Alert!"

"We didn't come battle ready, because that wasn't our mission, but if we don't improvise, adapt and overcome, history will repeat itself" Gustavus roared in the heat of the situation.

"The unpleasant truth is that, the station might take sometime to dispatch reserves to give support; its our duty as Cavaliers to hold our own out here, in the gutters."

Some didn't want to admit it but, this felt like a doomsday predicament, and darkest fear was that there might be no escape from this.

"It's our responsibility to protect those down here, and as long as we have breathe in our lung, there's not stepping down." Gustavus ordered.

"Yes sire!" Erupted the platoon with enthusiasm, however, the look on their faces was that of dreaded horror and regrets.

"But sire, these things seem to be ignoring the locales and coming directly towards us." said Dave.

"You think I haven't noticed...?" Gustavus yelled back.

"Now fall in line, Assemble! Shields build a fortress. Arrow heads, ready your carbines... Let's teach these abominations not to take us lightly."

There were four cardinals, which meant four fronts they have to cover. The east, west, north, and south. Directing their guns at the mouth of the alleyways, taking aim ...

Finally, in one touchdown, the demons were upon them. From just a glance, the fiber in their bodies began to react.

Like a well rehearsed repertoire the demons emits howl like requiems. And the long awaited 'fire' thunders.

Trying their hardest to resist the ominous feeling creeping beneath their skin; the overpowering urge to toss aside their weapons and make a run for it... The illumination around the place, revealed the nature of the nightmare they were up against. Meanwhile, Gustavus had already sent a report back to the station.

In the heat of the situation, the first strike from the enemy came in hard, sending off immense shockwaves, which blasts off chasms into the ground where they have gathered.

With that, the formation was thwarted and they were all sent flying...

_______ Cavaliers HQ at Klayrenbolg.

The infantry - a special ops-team of Cavaliers, capable of quick mobilization during impromptu situation.

"Sire, we've received a code red transmission from our men down in the gutters." Reported an officer to his superior. "According to the report, they are being attacked, no slaughtered by monsters."

"This feels awfully familiar, like history is repeating itself..." the commander hunched on the situation.

"That night! " the commander reminisce, "We lost a lot to one man. It's him again isn't it..?"

"???!" Silence prevailed for a few seconds.

"Hmm... That cuts it. Things are going to be different this time." He uttered with charisma. "I need Intel. What monster our we going up against this time...? "

"Monsters sire! The level of assault our men described is off-the-chart sire." he reported... "My guess is we are dealing with.. "

"Demons...!" The superior growled with a cold countenance finishing of the sentence; an involuntary habit of his. "Balthazar doesn't know when to call it quits, now does he...?"

Red signals flared up all over the station. The to and fro movements of workers covering their various tasks - from the hunched over cyphers working the terminals to the cartographers plotting away and so on. A few thoughtful moments passed by, with the general atmosphere inside the terminal room tensed up.

"Mobilize the adjudicators... " ordered the commander.

"Roger.. "The assistant saluted.

_______

The sky was filled with smoke and the ground was littered with the corpses of fallen soldiers. The battle had been raging for hours, and it seemed like there was no end in sight. The Cavalier platoon had been fighting valiantly against the giant demons, but they were no match for their sheer size and strength. The demons were huge, towering over the soldiers like mountains.

Their skin was a deep red, and their eyes glowed with an eerie yellow splint. They wielded massive razor sharp claws that could cut anything. The soldiers fought bravely, but they were slowly being overwhelmed by the sheer power and suffocating essence. The already musty and unbreathable air within the bowels of spindleton got denser, making it quite tough for the Cavs to hold their ground.

Suddenly, a loud roar echoed across the battlefield, accompanied by a burst of hellish essence, as one of the demons unleashed a powerful blast of energy from its mouth. The blast sent shockwaves through the air, knocking down trees and sending debris flying everywhere. The soldiers scrambled to take cover as best they could, but it wasn't enough to protect them from the onslaught of destruction that followed.

The demons continued to rain down fireballs on the troops, decimating everything in their path. The ground shook with each impact, and soon it became impossible to tell friend from foe in the chaos that ensued. In a desperate attempt to survive, some of the soldiers resorted to using their own weapons against their attackers, but it was a little too late.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of destruction and death, reinforcement had finally arrived from the surface. A team of seven Cavaliers, their frame was covered in a hard outer shell of what looked like an exoskeletal armor.

"Thank heavens, the adjudicators have arrived", the platoon leader's henchman announced with a hint of cheer in his voice.

*****