Chapter 14: Chapter 14: The Last Stand

Morgo IV. Research Outpost Delta. Armory. 

Adrianna leaned against the wall, her Defender automatic rifle resting against the wall beside her. Even in the safety of the armory, she kept both layers of her helmet down, hiding her expressions, and her fear, from her fellow rebel soldiers. 

It was rare for women to be in combat roles in the Imperial Army, and the few female soldiers that lasted for years tended to be some of the toughest troops out there. Adrianna was one good example. She couldn’t count the number of enemies she had killed since she volunteered for military service. Soldiers and civilians of the Republic of Dorn. Soldiers and civilians of the Salin Empire. Pirates and bandits. Even rebels. Even after she joined the Venya Revolutionary Guard, her skills and experience were still there. She wasn’t someone who could be easily shaken. 

But what she just saw today. It terrified her. 

She was used to death. She had seen troopers be riddled with a hail of bullets until they were beyond recognition. She had seen entire squads that spent months training together get blown up by artillery shells or bombers the first time they stepped onto the battlefield. She had witnessed incendiary weapons turn living people into screaming human torches. But in every single battle she has fought in, she knew she was going against enemies who were similar to her. They could feel the same fear and stress and pain as her. As long as she and her comrades endured longer than their enemies, they could win. No matter how difficult a battle was, there was always still hope. 

Not this time. This time, the enemies they were facing were not human beings. They were monsters who didn't care about pain or injuries of fear. They had no such thing as morale. They didn't make mistakes or falter during engagements. They would charge at her comrades against a storm of bullets, and even if they were to die, they would use their last moments to sink their teeth into the armor of the troopers. 

She was the only one left in her squad. Corporal Ding was dead. Private Suzuki and Dam were dead. Private Suzuki was ripped to pieces right in front of her own eyes. Private Dam, the machine gunner, was lept onto by a xenomorph that came out of some random corner. By the time Adrianna took out the xenomorph with carefully-placed shots, the machine gunner no longer had half his neck. Even the best medical treatments in the Imperium couldn't save him. Private Taylor, who often bragged to be the quickest draw in the entire platoon, put a bullet into his own skull when he witnessed what the xenomorphs did to his comrades. She was the only one in her squad who reached the armory. 

All the remaining rebels in the base have converged in the armory. There were less than 30 of them, with most being the group Captain Hanson led and the ones guarding the armory. As far as they knew, everyone in the company who wasn’t in the armory was killed and devoured by these deadly xenomorphs that appeared out of nowhere. 

In the corridor leading to the armory was the body of 20 zerglings. Most of them were mowed down by the Purifier-class light machine guns. The armory was the furthest away from the detention center by design, so by the time the zerglings reached the armory, the rebels there were already prepared. Four machine guns were enough to completely cover the narrow hallway. 

Zerglings were deadly melee combatants, but they simply weren’t built to charge into heavy fire. On a more open battlefield, they could still flank the enemy position and close the distance that way. This wasn't possible for the armory. Usually, the task of pushing through a choke point against suppressive fire fell on more armored units such as roaches or ultralisks.

The armory was safe, for now. The question was what to do next. 

“Prepare to defend this location.” Captain Hanson immediately started giving orders to the remaining rebel troops. He knew asking questions about where the xenomorphs came from would be a waste of time. “You two, set up a heavy machine gun position at the door. You four, good grab the flamethrowers! You four get the RPGs ready…”

“Sir, shouldn’t we head back to the lab?” One of the rebels frowned and asked the question most of the rebels were thinking. “If we don’t have Dr. Payton when our ride arrives…”

“Go back to the lab? With less than 30 of us?” The captain scoffed. “How long do you think we can last against both the Wolves and the xenos?”

“We have heavy weapons…”

“Which means nothing once we go on the offensive.” Captain Hanson gestured at the hallway where the zerglings killed by the machine guns were. “Even when we saw them coming, these xenos were able to get across one-third of the hallway. We all know how much more deadly they can be with surprise on their side. Leave this defensive position, and we die.”

“But we can’t stay here forever!”

“We don’t need to.” Captain Hanson replied as confidently as possible. “Remember. Even with these xenomorphs, we have severed the communication between this outpost and the wider Imperium. Our help is on the way. As soon as they get here, they can work on clearing out the xenos in this base and seizing the doctor. The Imperium wouldn’t realize something is off for a while. By the time they’re here, we’ll be long gone.” 

The rebels looked at each other and nodded. One by one, they started going to work on setting up the defenses. The few rebels not in armor quickly suited up. 

Two men in power armor carried an Eradicator-class heavy machine gun to the entrance and set it up aiming at the other end. Eradicators were one of the heaviest machine guns used by the Imperium. They fired at a rate of 2,000 rounds per min. Sustained fire from Eradicators was known to rip through APCs and light tanks. The guns themselves and the ammo required for constant firing were both extremely heavy and difficult to carry. That was why Eradicators were often mounted on vehicles or placed in defensive positions.

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Standing beside the machine gunners were the troops with flamethrowers and RPGs. Adrianna was one of the rebels selected to wield the flamethrowers. She never used a flamethrower in combat before, but she received basic training on how to use the weapon. The feeling of the Judicator-class flamethrower in her hand gave her a lot more comfort than her original Defender automatic rifle. She had attached the rifle to a slot on her power armor designed to help Imperial soldiers free up their hands for other tasks.

These were all weapons the rebels didn't bring out against the loyalists for one reason or another. Some, like the Eradicators, were too difficult to carry. Others, like the Judicator-class flamethrowers, were overkill when going against infantry soldiers. 

Captain Hanson kept the blast door open. The narrow hallway offered his men a good battlefield to unleash their firepower on the xenomorphs. Shutting the blast door merely traded this advantage for a few minutes of time. 

As the rebels prepared themselves for one last stand, Athena arrived at the other end of the hallway. She didn't know exactly how many rebels were in the armory, but it was reasonable to assume they were extremely well-armed. 

Athena quickly checked her combat units available.

Zerg: Zergling. Queen. 

Terran: Hellion. Widow Mine. 

Protoss: None.

Mineral: 2,592

Vespene Gas: 2,418

She first ignored the two terran units. Hellions might do well on open field, but inside the tight hallway? Their speed and maneuverability would be meaningless. Their flamethrower might be able to light the entire hallway up, but how would that benefit her? She might not even be able to enter the armory afterwards. Hellions just weren’t designed for this. Neither were the widow mines.

It seemed like she had to resort back to the zerglings and queens after all. 

She quickly added 3 more queens and 20 pairs of zerglings to the production tab. The queens cost 450 minerals and the 40 zerglings cost 1,000 minerals.

Mineral: 1,142

Vespene Gas: 2,418

Athena knew very well that advancing through the tight corridor into enemy fire would be a costly endeavor. She considered searching for another way into the armory, but unlike most rooms in the base, the armory was surrounded by reinforced Class B Alloys, which was just two levels down from the Class S Alloys used to build the armored plating of starships. It would take forever for SCVs or queens to drill through the walls. It was time she didn't have. 

The only way in was through the main gate. 

Under Athena’s command, 5 queens and 40 zerglings materialized in front of the corridor. The five queens positioned themselves in the front and acted as the meat shield for the more vulnerable zerglings. As the queens started moving, Athena quickly noticed a problem. The hallway was so narrow that only one queen could fit at once. 

Athena winced a little, but she still ordered the queens to advance in a single-file, with the four queens behind the first one ordered to use the transfuse ability on the first queen the moment damage was taken. The transfuse allowed queens to heal other biological units, including other zerg queens. 

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