When the squad of Helldivers stepped into the dim interior of the laboratory, they immediately focused their attention on the eerie atmosphere that reigned around them. Everything here was drastically different from what had awaited them at the entrance.
To start with, the lovely white shade of the sterile walls was decorated with brown-crimson streaks.
Every step echoed in the empty, dead corridors, as if silence itself were trying to remind them of the inevitable end they all feared. There wasn't a single sound around, not a rustle, not a life-giving breath—only an oppressive silence and a deceptively lulling calm.
The light of the flashlights pierced through the gloom, creating flickering shadows that seemed alive. The laboratory walls, once snow-white, were now covered in strange spots resembling dirt, but with a characteristic shimmer, as if someone had tried to leave their marks on their surface.
Along the walls stretched indentations from fingernails—ghastly marks that seemed to testify to the victims' desperate attempts to escape the trap.
Approaching one of the marks, Sam Altman placed his hand against the tracks, once again confirming that they were left by a human. Shaking his head, the man led his soldiers further, occasionally contacting the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, the heart-wrenching whisper of the wind, penetrating through cracks in the window, resembled the sinister groan of this abandoned place.
On the floor in the corners lay scraps of clothing that seemed to have been torn with terrible haste. The fabric was worn, in places tightened with crimson stains—a brutal reminder of the fate of those who once actively worked in this dark place.
The squad moved carefully, trying not to attract attention, but an indescribable fear hung in the air, as if something invisible was already watching them, waiting for human flesh.
Suddenly, a sharp creak rang out—it was a dangling ventilation duct door, hanging by a single bolt, piercing the silence. This sound was unnatural; it resonated in the Helldivers' heads, causing a shiver throughout their bodies.
Each of them stopped. Their hearts beat in unison, creating an atmosphere of a loud rhythm, reminding them that something unimaginable lurked in the darkness.
Unexpectedly, in the depths of the corridor, quiet but sinister rustles were heard, as if someone invisible was moving along the floor. One of the dark shadows in the distance seemed to crawl into the joints between the slabs, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. The squad grew alert, their pre-death instincts activated, knowing that at any moment they could become victims of the nature of this evil.
Every step they took caused dull sounds from the collision of boots with the floor and broke the silence. And at that moment, goosebumps ran down their walls—the claws of an invisible enemy were tightening around them, leaving a palpable sense of depression. With every second, the feeling of anxiety grew; the spirit of the laboratory seemed sewn with invisible threads permeating the gloom.
The smell of dampness and decay filled the air, as if the entire environment were trying to remind them that life had once thrived here, but now only ghosts remained.
The squad knew they were not alone. The inner world of the laboratory remained secretly possessed, viewing them as potential victims.
"Commander, they're close..."
***
The silence of the internal comms was broken by the quiet voice of the Sergeant of Fireteam Five. Standing right behind me, he continued to pretend he noticed nothing, just like the rest.
Grunting into the channel, I followed with the corner of my eye a grotesque body crawling in the distance, sincerely believing itself invisible. Had I not wanted to get a better look at them and lure more out at once, I would have killed it at the first turn when the freak crawled out through the ventilation, leaving a trail of guts, shit, and blood behind it.
But now, the time had come. Around twenty of the bastards had already gathered—deformed Brutes, fit only for scaring children.
"But not Helldivers."
"Send these Brutes into oblivion, Spencer!"
"O-o-o-oh, yes!" Stepping past the dispersed troopers, the smallest of them came forward, a huge tank on his back and a battered flamethrower in his hands. Aiming the nozzle at the clustered monsters, the Helldiver screamed at the top of his lungs, switching on his external speaker. "Be purified by the fire of Liberty!"
Bright scarlet flame burst forth, illuminating the spacious room that had once been the local cafeteria. The tongues of fire, finally reaching their victims, greedily began to devour the reacting Brutes as they scrambled to scatter.
"BURN!"
Leaning back slightly, the pyromaniac enthusiastically swept the nozzle from side to side, dousing the room in flame, melting flimsy tables and chairs, and igniting everything in sight.
A screech hit our ears. The death cries of the monsters were sweet music to my ears, but I couldn't leave all the fun to Spencer.
"Fire on the Brutes, fire!"
Blaster volleys complemented the light show. Dense fire from the now-signature Helldivers rifles toppled the front ranks of the enemy, burning through their flimsy bodies and liberally tearing off limbs.
And they had many limbs. Mutilated blades, like those of a mantis, protruded from their shoulders. Extra legs sometimes sprouted from former lower body parts or even from knees. Some of the freaks had two, sometimes three pairs of arms, which they waved furiously, trying to swat away the flames...
"What's the point, though?"
"Don't spare the tibanna!" Switching to the internal channel, I quickly located the markers of the rest of my people on the map. "Fourth, Third—report!"
"Engaged with a numerous but extremely stupid enemy..."
"Fucking freaks are pouring out of every crack, boss! TAKE THIS!"
The Third's furious shout burst into the air, followed by the laboratory building shaking violently, nearly sending everyone in the fight to the floor. The first explosion was followed by more and more, until those idiots finally emptied the entire grenade launcher inside the building.
The tibanna battery signaled the end of the ammunition. Freeing one hand, I snatched a Pistol from my belt and fired offhand at a breakthrough mutant, blowing away half its head. The first shot was followed by a second and a third, until the legless creature stopped squirming... Even then, I shot off its front pair of arms just in case.
"THE DUCK IS BURNING! HA-HA-HA-HA! LIBERTY! BURN! BURN!"
Reloading the battery, I shook my head ironically, feeling a smile creep onto my face. The madness of Super Earth was beginning to penetrate even this universe... and I wasn't against it.
Fire raged around us. Interior items melted like wax onto the floor, leaving only bare plasteel walls covered in soot. The roar of the flames filled our ears, sometimes even drowning out the screams of the freaks.
Leaping over the dead body of another monster, I jammed a Blaster into the belly of the next one and released half a charge—tearing the rotten body to pieces. The punctured stomach wasn't much of an obstacle, and the barrel sank further, coming out the other side, but I didn't stop firing.
The shrieking monster tried to impale me on its blade-arms, so as the next battery ran dry, I stopped dodging and let the rifle drop from my hands.
Fist strikes in power armor crushed the skull. Rotten flesh barely held up under the force of my lunges, but the monster was still alive and, with a couple of blade swings, nearly left me armless.
With a kick to the sternum, I sent it into the crowd of its kin, but catching the walls with its extra limbs, it jerked itself back, roaring hoarsely with the full power of its dead lungs.
Dodging the first strike, I caught the blade-arm in a lock and snapped it with my full body weight. Shoving the monster half a meter aside with my shoulder, I gripped the stump more firmly and drove it into its belly with all my might, piercing the abomination from top to bottom, practically impaling it on its own limb up to the head.
A kick behind the knee forced it to drop, lowering its foul head. Grabbing it with both hands, I braced one foot against its chest and, to the creature's howl, tore off its head, ripping out part of the spine.
"GRA-A-A-A!"
Gripping the improvised weapon by the dangling remains of the vertebrae, I struck the next monster creeping up from the side with all my strength. Shreds of flesh flew in all directions as the freak, shuddering under my blows, retreated.
Ducking under its blades, I moved to the side, pressing almost completely against the stinking body.
A new kick bent the enemy's knee the wrong way, and a new opponent was on its knees, trembling before the stride of Liberty!
Dodging a blade thrust, I stayed behind the creature's back, sending it face-first into the floor with one precise kick. It screamed and raged, but the power armor boot ended the creature's cursed unlife, finally forcing it into silence.
Ichor and guts splashed everywhere. But there was no time to wash up.
Snatching up the Blaster again, I dodged a couple of blades from a new enemy, pressing the Pistol's barrel to its chin. It was all battered, scorched, and missing a couple of arms, which meant it would die quickly...
For a moment, it even seemed to me that a flash of realization appeared in the stupid monster's eyes the instant before death.
Blood sprayed. The scorched head jerked back, and the carcass began to slowly topple onto its back, blocking the others from reaching me.
A pair of Helldivers stepped forward. Setting their blasters to full power, they riddled the remaining creatures in the passage with two streams of laser bolts, practically halving their bodies.
"The Chief to all groups. Report."
"Groups One and Two, no change. No enemy in sight."
"This is Third, we have one wounded and one killed. A huge thing crawled out, tore Micky in half, fucking bitch." Third spat loudly on the floor; he was clearly sitting without a helmet. "A mix of a mollusk and a woman's hole..."
"Fourth speaking, two light, one heavy. Walked into an ambush, probably..." Fourth sounded doubtful of his own words, but after a heavy sigh, he finished. "Some freaks are missing half their bodies or pretending to be dead."
"Copy that." Turning to my own men, I watched Spencer shove the nozzle of the flamethrower into a fat mutant's mouth and then squeeze the trigger, releasing a stream of fire into the bloated creature's body. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened until the unknown thing burst, splashing us all with small, burning bodies of some three-fingered insects. "Ugh, for fuck's sake. Spencer!"
"Sorry boss, he just wouldn't die," the idiot even chuckled at the end, clearly enjoying himself, "but that was fun. Not Tsurr, of course, but still not bad..."
"Alright, pack it up and let's move on. I want to know what kind of shit was going on here, and also look for the maps the archaeologists found." Switching to the external comms channel, I selected Fourth and Third, who were supposed to be near each other. "Listen up. Group together. Leave the wounded at the entrance; I'll send Noble Two for them. The rest of you—get moving and start causing a ruckus. Draw the Brutes to yourselves; I need to read the eggheads' diaries here."
"Heh-heh, we can do that, boss."
"Will be done."
Without listening to the replies of the Helldivers intoxicated by easy victories, I picked up my lost rifle, hastily reloading it and cleaning off the stinking sludge.
"Damn... What a mess. The Chief to all: as soon as we're done, everyone spends at least two hours in the disinfector." Disgustedly flicking away a snot-like glob, I looked at the rifle with doubt. "Well, bitch... How did it come to this?"
****
"And what kind of shit is this now?"
Pointing a finger at a woman banging her head against the wall, Spencer nudged his neighbor with an elbow, literally cracking up at the sight.
"Realized the futility of being a broad, what else is there to say..."
"She's fine, her ass hasn't sagged, her face is just bloody." Standing next to the crazy woman, the Helldivers began to animatedly discuss the merits and advantages of the female specimen before us. "I wouldn't fuck her myself, but Dosh likes them like that."
"Why me all of a sudden?"
"You wanted to fuck a Muun woman."
"Damn it, that never happened!" Throwing his hands up expressively, Dosh stepped away from the crazy one, who—at the loud sound—began banging her head against the wall more actively. "And anyway, we're supposed to be a free squad, I can fuck whoever I want."
"Yeah, or more likely she'd fuck you, considering that was a man... Heh-heh-heh."
Guffawing, the soldiers continued to roast their unlucky comrade, who couldn't tell a male Muun from a female. But it was time to end this intellectual duel.
"Alright, do you have that much free time or something? Get to your posts, knock the girl out before she dies, and finish off that poor bastard already, he's bothering me with his screaming." Pointing a finger at a howling creature, somewhat resembling a ray, I winced painfully. The monstrosity had been pinned to the floor with the remains of my rifle, impaled like a butterfly, and now the creature was trying to get free, clearly not having the most pleasant experience. "Move it, damn it!"
I myself stopped glaring at my scurrying subordinates and returned to the journal of a certain Ada Cortez, the head of this local panopticon, who was the lead scientist of the laboratory.
****
They understand nothing. How can they not realize that this is a true discovery of the millennium! Incredible potential! In fact, if we can tame the power of the artifact, we will unlock the secret of resurrection! Just listen to that—returning to life.
And not just any way, but in a new, better, and greater organism. We will be able to become part of a single whole. United.
Wars, strife, disputes... All this will be left behind when everyone is part of the whole. We will be able to understand each other without words, we will be able to....
....
Damn Rodrigo! The stupid bastard doesn't realize even a fraction of His potential. The Obelisk isn't just some Sith artifact. No, it's something more—it's part of something far more powerful.
The stupid soldier suggests selling it to Force cultists or even giving it to the Jedi.
The Jedi?! Moron, if they find out we're digging here, they'll kill us on the spot...
But none of that matters. I know how to get out of this situation.
I know how to save The Obelisk...
He told me himself. Told me, as the only one who was ready to hear the truth...
I need to do something. I must do something.... Must...
...
Emily, my dear graduate student. She did everything exactly as I said. At first, the girl refused her fate, but I insisted... Yes, I insisted...
I had to lock her in the room with the artifact so she would agree to my terms, and after a couple of hours, Emily became obedient and meek, not at all like she was before....
Sweet child. I am so glad you too were able to know the light of His truth.
.....
Everything is going exactly as I calculated. More and more scientists and outpost workers agree with me. They support me. They listen to me. They want me to lead them further!
This is it! Exactly what I kept harping on to the management and Rodrigo! With power like this—no force in the galaxy can oppose us...
No one can oppose me...
.....
Little Emily has completely faded. She drools more often than she speaks now. I should cheer her up somehow... I should probably take her back to the room with The Obelisk; I hope she feels better this time.
.....
I won! Rodrigo and his stupid soldiers are out of the picture, and now I alone am responsible for the project. My faithful assistants have signed off on all my words, and now the Terra Nova is ascending to orbit, preparing to leave the system.
It's all thanks to Him... Yes, I should go back into the chamber and touch Him, feel His light. Just once, just once more...
...
Bastard! Cursed Brute! Rodrigo intercepted The Obelisk on the way to the spaceport. He wants to take it from me! Wants to take it away from me...
No... That will not happen. No one dares to cross me.
No one dares to cross Us.
***
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