The forest came alive before Orion reached the ridge.
Gunfire snapped through the trees in inconsistent rapid bursts.
The air stank of gunpowder, smoke, and something metallic...
'Definitely the stink of plasma and blood mixed together.' Orion thought while taking deep breathes.
Muzzle flashes flickered between the trunks like lightning bugs gone mad.
He crouched low, his HUD scanning through the chaos in thin blue lines and red figures... hundreds of signatures, clustered and moving fast in direction.
{Heat Signatures Detected.}
{Human: 47.}
{Non-human: 289.}
{Chrysalith swarm confirmed.}
{Combat Module: Active}
The readings blurred, then steadied. There were more coming from the west, climbing and moving across and above the trees.
He closed his eyes muttered under his breath. "Bloody hell."
His eyes snapped open and the rifle came up. And he squeezed the triggers.
He started moving before his brain caught up... his combat module taking control.
By the time he broke through the treeline, the human line was falling back, forty-odd soldiers in dirty, scorched and fractured armour firing from behind fallen trunks and hastily raised barricades.
A handful of scientists were crouched in the dirt behind them, dragging metal cases and shouting over the chaos.
Plasma rifles spat thin blue beams that cut through the dark like welding arcs obviously trying to thin out the herd before it became a close-combat battle.
The recoil from ballistic rifles thudded dull and rhythmic in between.
The sound was everywhere... gunfire, screeches, and the whip-crack of air as something fast tore through it.
The Chrysalith were everywhere.
The workers chaste chrysalith came in first, all legs and clawed limbs, rushing over their own dead like ants pouring from a nest.
The real soldiers chaste chrysalith followed... Not only did they look heavier, darker, spraying acid that hissed where it landed, they were also better armoured compared to the workers.
Orion didn't hesitate.
He raised the AK and fired.
Three rounds tore through the first creature that noticed him and vaulted towards him, the burst snapping it mid-leap. It twisted, hit a tree, and fell limp.
He shifted his aim and released another three shots and the next went down, its chest opening like cracked porcelain.
He dropped to a knee, sighted down the line, and picked off another two before the soldiers noticed him.
"Who the hell—" one shouted before another cut him off, "I don't care, he's on our side! So shut the hell up and keep shooting!!"
That was all he needed.
He slid behind a burnt-out vehicle, swapped mags, and started firing again in efficient bursts.
Every pull of the trigger met it target.
The air shimmered as a plasma rifle beside him overheated.
A soldier cursed, slapped the venting module, and ducked just in time as acid splashed over the barrier they'd been sharing.
Orion turned, fired once... the worker chrysalith that spat it folded backwards... and nodded at the soldier, who blinked behind a cracked visor, clearly wondering who the hell this man in a jacket was.
He didn't answer.
He just kept shooting.
The soldier beside him immediately rolled out from behind cover and grabbed the gun off the corpse of one of his dead colleagues before taking cover and opening fire again.
One of the winged soldiers screamed overhead, diving low.
Orion dropped the rifle, rolled sideways, drew the Desert Eagle mid-motion and fired upward... one, two, three.
The third shot hit the underbelly. The creature's flight faltered; it crashed through branches and landed half a metre away, twitching, wings broken.
He stood, reloaded with smooth, unhurried precision, and kept moving.
The humans were forming a rough circle now, holding a shrinking perimeter.
Plasma bursts lit up the trunks, throwing shadows that moved faster than thought.
Orion moved between them like a ghost, his jacket streaked with dirt and spattered shell fragments.
He switched to the Glock for close range, its lighter recoil letting him move faster.
Two scouts darted in from the right; he fired three quick shots... one to the knee joint, one to the throat, one to the eye.
Both fell before their momentum carried them close enough to touch.
More came... twenty, no thirty at least... crawling over roots and soil.
He holstered his Glock switched back to the AK, and squeezed the trigger, raking a line across the charging wave.
Bullets flew out, the gun was hot against his forearm, but the rounds did their work.
The front rank of the swarm fell apart in sprays of black blood.
He moved without thinking, he unclicked the empty mag and instead of using his own spares he grabbed an half-spent mag from a fallen trooper, slammed it into place, and fired again.
Somewhere behind, one of the scientists yelled, "The samples! We can't lose the samples!"
Orion barely heard him. He was already turning to the next threat.
Three ground soldiers chaste chrysalith burst from the left flank, their size dwarfing everyone around them.
They hit like tanks, knocking men aside. One of them grabbed a soldier and split him apart before anyone could react.
Orion attention immediately shifted to them and his targeting system immediately shifted around searching for weak points and immediately he found one he pulled his trigger twice and shifted to the second one before the first even fell.
The shots went clean through the eye sockets. Seeing two of his comrade die, the third raised its acid sacs, aiming straight at him.
He stepped sideways and the spray hissed past, burning the soil.
He aimed for the creature's open mouth and fired a single round.
It dropped instantly.
He checked his HUD.
{Ammo remaining: 42 rounds.}
{Hostiles remaining: 179.}
Not good.
He looked across the battlefield... saw three soldiers fall back, dragging the scientists toward the clearing ahead.
"Fall back to the Landing Zone!" one of the officers shouted. "Fall back! FALL BACK!"
Orion fell in beside them, covering their flank.
Winged Chrysalith swept through the treetops, screeching, spitting green bile that burned through leaves.
Orion tracked one with the Glock and fired until it dropped, smoking.
Another dived low, talons flashing... he sidestepped, and a wrist blade appeared which he rammed through its chest, and kicked it free.
The blade vanish... Orion did a quick look around and thankfully everyone was too preoccupied with surviving to notice.
He turned his attention back to the battle and fired until the AK clicked dry, reloaded from muscle memory, and checked the field again.
The swarm was still coming, but slower now... the forest floor covered with their dead.
"Keep moving!" he barked, voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos.
The soldiers didn't question him. They just obeyed.