As the power returned to the facility, the lights illuminated the laboratory and Corporal Knightley along with her attacker! She turned away from a console once she had to begin to download whatever data she could when her heart jumped into her throat. One of the creatures stood only feet from her and was towering over her, drawing even closer; she frantically backed away from the black and red creature that Lieutenant Storm had described. She scrambled to aim and fire her weapon at the creature, but the creature seemed to slowly absorb each and every one of the bullets she fired. If she hadn’t stood on a fire extinguisher and falling backwards flat to the ground, she would not have had the idea that saved her life. The creature seemed to be blind as it just absorbed whatever it came in contact with. The corporal noticed this and an idea clicked with her, if it worked, she would be safe from her attacker if not, maybe it just might scare it away. It was the only idea she had, running away would not get her the data she wanted. She picked up the fire extinguisher and threw it to the monster then readied her side arm (a 45-calibre SOCOM pistol). The extinguisher landed on the creature’s chest and was mostly absorbed into its body; she waited until the creature had absorbed enough of the canister to ensure maximum damage before she fired a single shot. The single shot hit its intended target causing a small explosion of CO2. The explosion was enough to hurt the creature, but the CO2 seemed to have an unexpected effect on it. The creature quickly became a solid as stone and was unable to move, the red veins stretching across its body began to dim in vibrancy and even began to dissolve as did the creature itself. She sat up against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment and taking a well-deserved breath of relief, now more than ever she became more interested in these creatures. She was interested in their creation and even more interested in how they got into a sealed Were Inc facility.
Back in the control room, Lieutenant Storm and Captain Quis Podex were in a fight for their lives, not with creatures like the one Corporal Knightley encountered, but with a new enemy, an enemy that attacked in a large group of seemingly endless numbers! They both struggled to fight off goblins that had somehow entered the facility and bypassed the security measures. According to known folklore, goblins are ill-tempered looters. They may have been sitting and wait somewhere in the facility until the power was restored in order to gain full access to the entire facility or they may have found another way in and out that both Alpha and Bravo teams didn’t know of. The only thing they knew was the fight for survival had yet again gotten underway.
Corporal Knightley heard over her visualiser’s commlink a great deal of gunfire and Captain Quis Podex shouting, “Marie, get your ass here now!”
Corporal Knightley hastily replied, “Captain, I’m on my way, ETA three minutes.”
She looked to the screens of two monitors to see the data complete its transfer; she looked to her PDA to ensure HQ received the data. Once the message showed the ‘delivered’ sign, she thought she had enough time to gather as much information from the computers terminals as she could utilise the facilities Wi-Fi to download as much as her visualiser could hold in its memory card while she went to her team’s aid.
“Some would call that stealing,” a voice announced to Corporal Knightley.
She spun around on her heels, tracking her weapon across the room, her keen eyes looking for a target, but she saw no one. She lowered her rifle and looked around the room once more; but still saw no one, yet the voice still spoke to her, “Of course, it’s none of my business what you do, but they are my secrets you’re taking.”
The voice was that of a man, but Marie could hear the kindness in his voice and thought he must be watching her on the facilities security cameras. It was the only rational explanation she could think of. The only other person(s) she knew to be in the facility were her captain and the lieutenant.
“You should go to the control room, your companions are in need of your help. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe until you get there.”
There was something in the voice that made her feel compelled to trust it, and so she did as she was instructed. She raced to the control room and just as the voice said, she was
