• INTRO
    “Shhh,” Devin unfurled his finger from his fist. Slivers of shadow swam across the rock wall, immediately pieces of ammunition punctured into the cracking sand giving off sparks along with split second of illumination of the caverns, “Hold.”

    Three scaly rodents like creatures twitched, convulsing as the 9mm spikes protruded from the gushing blood. A marine, lifted his visor to scratch his head. The image of a Hydralisk skull on the visor passed into the suit revealing his face. Marley spoke up, spittle dribbling into tiny showers as usual, “Just some native creatures,” Marley turned to Sutkins and the rest of the squad, “No zerg yet.”

    Zerg. They were nothing of the ordinary. He and the others were told they were to be mindless creatures that rove system to system consuming every living entity to come across their swathe of destruction. They are animals that simply wanted to kill. Simple minded beasts.

    Sutkins shifted uncomfortably. The suit had adjusted the temperature with cooling tanks reducing the blistering temperature of 189 Fahrenheit and yet he felt sweat running down the skin covering my back. Everyone was a bit jumpy. Heavy zerg reports were scattered across the entire network of the tunnels deep under the once heavily occupied region of Dakur. Sutkins continuously checked the ammo readout on his gauss rifle, expecting ambush at a heartbeat’s notice. He studied the zerg info tapes over and over. They easily carved into the rock bed creating a whole new sense of surprise. He will not be taken as an average marine. He turned around looking at a few of the other marines by his side, the corridors were too small to fit more than two bulked up marines side by side. He glanced nervously at Jennings whose armor was bathed in scratches and splatters of blood. You could always tell who’ve been in a skirmish recently.

    Sutkins tapped his visor twice, hinting at her that he was getting worried. Jennings, a worn down veteran, looked over, lifted her visor and dragged two fingers across her heart. Chill she said, as soon as she finished the gesture red spilled on to everywhere. Where she stood large sprayings of blood poured out as she clutched her throat, which was nearly missing. Blood spattered on Sutkins’s suit and his face as she shook violently. She could not scream, only a loud croaking sound was heard in the background of the sounds of rock crumbling. Fragments of the rock layers around them shattered as small flurrying masses leapt out. Quickly Sutkins lifted his rifle but he only butted into the wall behind him as he tried to level the gun in the tight space. He heard Marley scream behind him as more blood showered over his armor. Limbs were thrown over the marines who stood trying to make sense of the chaos, few of which actually responding with gunfire. An arm fell from behind, smacking his rifle down. Sutkins looked down and cringed in horror, before he could register what was happening a zergling had swept through his knee and he collapsed, his leg severed from the rest of his body. Blood poured out as he screamed, he jerked over the body of Jennings and grabbed her gauss rifle, then sprayed ammunition at where his leg once was.

    “DEVIN!” Sutkins screamed, “REGROUP!” In response more blood washed over Sutkins as gunfire started to grow more frantic, less of an organized group, more of a free for all. Everything grew hazy; he peered down the tunnel as the marines in front of him were now toppling over like dominoes in a fine red mist giving him the better view of the clawing stream heading towards them. A voice echoed but he couldn’t comprehend it as all noise now was a single screeching whir, blended together. He felt hands jerk him back, dragging him back as Sutkins continuously picked off zerglings approaching too close to him.

    “Sutkins!” He looked around and saw he was being dragged past a marine laying covering fire and saw Marley, who had a massive gash running down his torso, all Sutkins could think of was how these huge suits of armor might as well have been butter.

    The marine who had been covering them was now being toppled over as more zerglings amassed over the defender, sprays of blood seeping through the flashing appendages making quick work of the once whole human body. Sutkins started to curl up into a ball as the pain from the torn leg seeped into every crevice of his body. His body started rocking as he bumped over other bodies littering the ground as he was being dragged. Now he could clearly see the zerglings, slightly resembling a dog’s bone structure, but hunched over and with limbs tightly packed together. There were numerous appendages ending in claws and menacing jutting bone, reminding him of a broken glass bottle. Small tattered wings allowed longer leaps. The head was nothing of the ordinary though. It was mashed together, a round head that sort of fused with the neck. Along its back were two strange limbs which arced over its small body ending in more boney spines which could swing down jabbing the victim. The mouth had splitting mandibles revealing dozens
    of teeth, each flowing with spittle and fresh blood.

    Then the eyes were what got him the most. Everything in the eye screamed that it wanted to kill him. It wanted to work together with his fellow killers to kill more of his kind. They wanted nothing but death and don’t care what to do to achieve their blood lust. Sutkins then thought about it. These were no simple minded beasts. An organized ambush, when they were highly vulnerable in tight corridors. No, these were not animals, they were a fellow intelligence. He shook the thought. They may be intelligent, but they sure as hell are cold blooded killers, every single one of the bastards. His rifle clacked empty. The tidal wave of zerg resurged forward, bolstering more numbers than before. A zergling clamped its jaws around his other leg and yanked back, attempting to drag him to the rest of the swarm. Marley pulled his pistol out of his holster and shot it in the head, the slug sank into the zergling’s head and dark matter spurt out of the parallel side of the head.

    “Marley, go.” He smiled as blood drooped down his lips, “you know you can’t drag me all the way back to the surface.”

    “Sutkins, I’m not leaving you in this place to die,” he squeezed off more rounds fending off more zerglings, “not with these bastards.” The screeching of zerglings grew ever louder.

    “Your being a fool Marley,” Sutkins shook his head, “you know better.” He grimaced, “Give my regards to Rachel.”

    Marley glanced at Sutkins for a second. A tear acknowledged the fact they aren’t going to be leaving together. He dropped Sutkins and started towards the rest of the retreating squad.

    Sutkins let out a curdling cry as the zerg swam over his body, dragging their lethal limbs over his body, ripping and tearing. With his last bit of strength he took two fingers and let them slide over his helmet as the last bit of movement and sign of life left his body.

    //END TRANSMISSON//