Beyond the End of the World, Lokians 1

Chapter 8

Jun waited for a moment. Sparks slowly vanished in the darkness as the grinding sound grew fainter. The creature was inching away, eating new depths into the icy tunnel. After an initial moment of hesitation, Jun whispered.

"We need to strike one at a time. If we stay a few feet apart, I can kneel and fire until the Lokian turns and comes at me. Then, I'll run behind the rest of you, and the next in line can fire at the creature."

O'Hara nodded, saying, "If we take turns moving, we should be able to take it out without getting hurt."

Hurriedly, they spread out when Adams's voice erupted into their earpieces, talking about Lokians spewing acid to dissolve the rock.

"Oh, my goodness," Nandesrikahl said.

"Holy fuckin' crap," Marty heaved. "We gotta' watch for that shit."

"Copy," O'Hara ground his teeth.

"Ready? I'll fire," Jun said and took a shot.

The green-blue light emitted by his weapon flashed through the corridor. Small bits of ice and rock fell on the crew as the beast at the other end thrashed against constricted space. Running back turned out to be more difficult than the Thewl assumed, so he fired more rounds while back peddling. He stumbled, sliding on the icy ground, but O'Hara was ready; he took a knee, trying to keep his rifle steady.

Scared beyond belief, the Human realized he wasn't training. He wasn't up against anything remotely familiar, and they all stood a chance of dying. The other Thewl's death choke wormed through his mind.

Flicking his gun light on revealed a mechanical mouth mere yards away. Vicious, metal teeth spinning in circular destruction drew closer. The Lokian thundered its way forwards, unleashing a deafening clamor. Before the captain popped off a round, ropey tentacles slapped him across the helmet, spider webbing his visor. He tried to scramble back, but another tentacle caught his leg, reeling him towards churning death.

Screaming, and shooting wildly as bullets ricocheted off the stone walls, sending ice everywhere, O'Hara begged for assistance. Martinez wasted no time. He ran to help, when a blast of light filled the tunnel, causing him to falter. Jun had tossed a lighting device, which brought to them all utter dread; O'Hara was dangling by an appendage.

"I gotcha', Cap!" Marty dropped his weapon to snatch a colossus grenade from his belt, an explosive like claymores made to cling to objects. "Eat this, you son of a bitch!"

He slammed the colossus against the beast's jaw. Nandesrikahl was right behind, firing at the tentacle. The chitinous appendage smashed O'Hara against the ceiling before the colossus went off. The explosion blew teeth and goo everywhere, covering everything. Muffled sounds of pain slipped from the captain's mouth as he slid onto his side. Jun and Sura took the forefront, unleashing hot fury into the Lokian's headless mass. Martinez and Nandesrikahl pulled O'Hara free from friendly fire.

To their amazement, the tunneler charged them by way of tiny, metallic hooks protruding from its undercarriage. Realizing they were still in danger, Marty called a retreat while strategically placing charges along the walls. Stumbling backwards over melted ice and strewn debris, the crew managed to get away.

The explosives finally went off, resulting in a minor quake. Ice and stone peppered the men from overhead. After a final rumble, the damaged corridor collapsed with the tunneler caught in the uproar. It hissed a long, hateful exhale before everything came to a silent standstill.

Continuing their retreat, and fearing a cave-in, Jun tried to force them back to the entrance as quickly as possible, but O'Hara was unable to cover ground. The cracked visor had him in a blind panic. He latched on to whoever was in front.